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Managed Medicaid boom could mean more generics
Now that most generics have declined in cost, plans will look for new ways to control health spend and ensure that generics are being used whenever possible. Prescription drug spending is down, and generic drugs made up 77% of all 2012 prescriptions, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Could this generic utilization percentage go even higher as a result of recent healthcare legislation?
Medicaid is increasingly becoming a managed care program, and states are looking to entities like pharmacy benefit managers to help them manage their drug spend.
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Cough-cold rewind: 20 years of growth
This year, ECRM celebrates 20 years of successfully pairing buyers and sellers across the consumer packaged goods industry. As part of that celebration, and in correlation to the ECRM Cough-Cold, Analgesics and Allergy event, DSN editors thought it’d be a good idea to look back through the last 20 years of the cough-cold business at retail.
Despite declining sales, three category trends — sparkling water, natural sodas and low-calorie sodas — are keeping some fizz in carbonated soft drinks. Mintel’s research shows that American consumption of carbonated soft drinks fell to the lowest level since 1996; increased prices kept the category level.
Retailers were preparing for the imminent launch of Chattem’s Nasacort Allergy 24HR nasal spray (triamcinolone intranasal) last month, clearing out quite a bit of shelf space for the new allergy remedy.
Mintel projects the pet products category will grow an average of 3.8% over the next five years to nearly $13.7 billion by 2017.