Abarca Forward News Today

During a panel discussion on GLP-1s at the Abarca Forward conference, one health executive stressed the importance of a food-as-medicine approach.

Abarca, a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transforming the industry with a new approach to technology and business practices, brought healthcare and technology leaders together at the third annual Abarca Forward Conference to discuss, co-create, and...

At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.

A panel discussion at the annual Abarca Forward conference in Puerto Rico last month sought to identify some of the innovative financial approaches that can be applied to managing the high price of novel therapies. Conversations also addressed what payers need for these financing models to be sustainable.

The largest six pharmacy benefit managers are being scrutinized by the Federal Trade Commission, while Congress is debating the Pharmacy Benefit Transparency Act. Meanwhile, states have their own ideas for reining in what they see as excesses of the industry. With all this heat, what is the message from the head of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association?

For the first time ever, CMS is preparing to negotiate prices for drugs paid for by Medicare. This has sparked a huge debate — will the creation of this taxpayer-funded drug negotiation infrastructure be a failed experiment, or will it become the standard for the future of drug pricing in this country? Jason Borschow, president and CEO of Abarca Health, says it's the latter.

Panelists at a recent pharmacy conference were optimistic about the future of value-based drug contracting. For example, one said that healthcare will be close to establishing a value-based formulary by 2030, and another said that longitudinal patient tracking will become a more important part the drug pricing process.

Panelists at a recent healthcare conference expressed optimism about the automation technology that health plans, pharmacy benefit managers and providers can adopt to facilitate real-time data sharing. They said that such technology has potential to improve medication adherence, reduce costs and save time for both providers and payers.