Priority Health is helping our members improve their health and save money
by encouraging them to switch from Lipitor to simvastatin (generic for
Zocor®).
Simvastatin Is a Proven Therapeutic Alternative
Simvastatin is clinically safe and effective at reducing bad
cholesterol. In recent studies:
- Lipitor 10mg reduced LDL by 38%; simvastatin 40mg reduced LDL by
41%
- Lipitor 20mg and simvastatin 80mg have similar reductions, 46% and 47%
respectively.
First Month Copayment Will Be Waived
Simvastatin can save your employees money. Priority Health will waive
the first copayment if this alternative is right for them. Since this
is a generic drug, your employees continue to save money each time they need
a refill.
Educating Your Employees
Priority Health is sending letters to our members to educate them about
simvastatin and encourage them to take these steps to choose
simvastatin:
- They need to contact their primary care doctor and ask if this
alternative is right for him/her. It is likely their doctor will ask
him/her to schedule an appointment. A lab test will be needed to make
sure the medicine is right for him/her.
- If simvistatin is right for them, they need to ask their doctor for a
new prescription.
- Members can take the new prescription to a retail pharmacy or send it
to our mail order service.
-
- If they have an HSA and have met their 2007 deductible, there will be
no copayment for their first prescription. They will pay a generic
copayment on future refills once they meet their 2007 deductible.
If they have not met their 2007 deductible, they still benefit by paying
significantly less for this drug.
- If they have a fully funded HMO, POS or PPO plan, there will be no
copayment for their first prescription. They will pay a generic
copayment on future refills. If they have recently switched to
simvastatin from Lipitor®, they will receive the waived copayment on
their next refill.
For more information on generics, visit
priorityhealth.com/medicationcenter/generics.
Last modified
11/06/09
