Copay coupons get the Inspector General treatment

A big no-no in the copay coupon world is Medicare. It's illegal to promote money-off coupons to Part D beneficiaries, because the government figures--rightly so--that the promos work to boost their brands over generics or other cheaper alternatives.

Just take a look at any coupon offer online and you'll see the warning: Offer doesn't apply to Medicare patients. But a new HHS Inspector General's report points out that some 7% of seniors are using coupons to help cover their prescriptions. That's something like 2 million Medicare recipients. Not a trivial number.

So, the OIG says the fine print isn't enough to safeguard against Medicare recipients' coupon use. Drugmakers have to do more--or risk violating antikickback laws.

Read more at FiercePharmaMarketing >>