For certain prescription drugs, special rules restrict how and when the plan covers them. A team of doctors and pharmacists developed these rules to help our members use drugs in the most effective ways. These special rules also help control overall drug costs, which keeps your drug coverage more affordable.
In general, our rules encourage you to get a drug that works for your medical condition and is safe and effective. Whenever a safe, lower-cost drug will work just as well medically as a higher-cost drug, the plan’s rules are designed to encourage you and your provider to use that lower-cost option. We also need to comply with Medicare’s rules and regulations for drug coverage and cost-sharing.
If there is a restriction for your drug, it usually means that you or your provider will have to take extra steps in order for us to cover the drug. If you want us to waive the restriction for you, you will need to use the coverage decision process and ask us to make an exception. We may or may not agree to waive the restriction for you. (See Chapter 9, Section 6.2 of your 2023 Evidence of Coverage for information about asking for exceptions.)
Please note that sometimes a drug may appear more than once in our drug list. This is because different restrictions or cost-sharing may apply based on factors such as the strength, amount, or form of the drug prescribed by your health care provider (for instance, 10 mg versus 100 mg; one per day versus two per day; tablet versus liquid).
Our plan uses different types of restrictions to help our members use drugs in the most effective ways. The sections below tell you more about the types of restrictions we use for certain drugs.
Generally, a “generic” drug works the same as a brand name drug and usually costs less. In most cases, when a generic version of a brand name drug is available, our network pharmacies will provide you the generic version. We usually will not cover the brand name drug when a generic version is available. However, if your provider has told us the medical reason that the generic drug will not work for you, then we will cover the brand name drug. (Your share of the cost may be greater for the brand name drug than for the generic drug.)
For certain drugs, you or your provider need to get approval from the plan before we will agree to cover the drug for you. This is called “prior authorization.” Sometimes the requirement for getting approval in advance helps guide appropriate use of certain drugs. If you do not get this approval, your drug might not be covered by the plan.
This requirement encourages you to try less costly but just as effective drugs before the plan covers another drug. For example, if Drug A and Drug B treat the same medical condition, the plan may require you to try Drug A first. If Drug A does not work for you, the plan will then cover Drug B. This requirement to try a different drug first is called “step therapy.”
For certain drugs, we limit the amount of the drug that you can have by limiting how much of a drug you can get each time you fill your prescription. For example, if it is normally considered safe to take only one pill per day for a certain drug, we may limit coverage for your prescription to no more than one pill per day.
The plan's Drug List includes information about the restrictions described above. To find out if any of these restrictions apply to a drug you take or want to take, check the Drug List. For the most up-to-date information, call Customer Service at the number below or check our website (www.ccokadvantage.com).
If there is a restriction for your drug, it usually means that you or your provider will have to take extra steps in order for us to cover the drug. If there is a restriction on the drug you want to take, you should contact Customer Service to learn what you or your provider would need to do to get coverage for the drug. If you want us to waive the restriction for you, you will need to use the coverage decision process and ask us to make an exception. We may or may not agree to waive the restriction for you. (See Chapter 9, Section 6.2 of the 2023 Evidence of Coverage for information about asking for exceptions.)
We conduct drug use reviews for our members to help make sure that they are getting safe and appropriate care. These reviews are especially important for members who have more than one provider who prescribes their drugs.
We do a review each time you fill a prescription. We also review our records on a regular basis. During these reviews, we look for potential problems such as:
If we see a possible problem in your use of medications, we will work with your provider to correct the problem.
We have a program that can help make sure our members safely use their prescription opioid medications, or other medications that are frequently abused. This program is called a Drug Management Program (DMP). If you use opioid medications that you get from several doctors or pharmacies, we may talk to your doctors to make sure your use is appropriate and medically necessary. Working with your doctors, if we decide your use of prescription or benzodiazepine medications is not safe, we may limit how you can get those medications. The limitations may be:
If we decide that one or more of these limitations should apply to you, we will send you a letter in advance. The letter will have information explaining the terms of the limitations we think should apply to you. You will also have an opportunity to tell us which doctors or pharmacies you prefer to use. If you think we made a mistake or you disagree with our determination that you are at-risk for prescription drug abuse or the limitation, you and your prescriber have the right to ask us for an appeal. See Chapter 9 of the 2023 Evidence of Coverage for information about how to ask for an appeal.
The DMP may not apply to you if you have certain medical conditions, such as cancer, you are receiving hospice, palliative, end-of-life care, or live in a long-term care facility.