Press Releases

Complexity of Medicare Part D continues to confuse, providing opportunity for pharma to help educate, according to new GfK Market Measures research

Study reveals MCO Part D plan sponsors may welcome some limited but important assistance in educating seniors, physicians

EAST HANOVER, NJ, December 14, 2005—Alleviating seniors’ confusion over the plethora of plan choices available to them is key to helping encourage enrollment in Medicare Part D plans. As seniors turn to physicians for guidance in this area, pharmaceutical manufacturers may have an opportunity to educate both audiences on the navigation of Part D. Nearly half of the CMS-approved Medicare Part D plan sponsors participating in the latest study from GfK Market Measures indicated they may welcome some manufacturer support in the form of general, strictly objective educational efforts.

MCOs fear that without guidance and mentoring, confused seniors may subsequently delay choosing from among the new prescription drug plans, for which enrollment began on November 15, 2005 and ends on May 15, 2006. They also express concern that current Medicare Advantage members may not understand the difference between a Medicare Advantage plan and a stand-alone prescription drug plan. Consequently, these members may make a selection which could result in automatic dis-enrollment from their current managed care medical coverage and placement back into Medicare fee-for-service medical coverage.

Plan sponsors will look to educate and promote to seniors on these and other issues through a mix of advertising channels, as well as through personalized communications, but sponsors must first re-engineer their marketing practices, which have traditionally been focused at intermediaries such as employee groups or human resources departments.

GfK Market Measures’ research shows that MCOs suggest unrestricted educational grants or support of public information campaigns as favorable forms of assistance from manufacturers, in addition to their direct development of objective educational initiatives. Research respondents were cautious to emphasize these campaigns must be strictly impartial and thoroughly brand-neutral, however.

“Plan sponsors are cautious about looking to pharma for any educational support, and some remain vehemently opposed, but the greater need to help seniors sort from among the thousands of plan choices and make an intelligent decision for enrollment is an overriding issue MCOs face,” said Larry Olson, Director of GfK Market Measures’ Consumer Health Practice. “It calls for an enormous education initiative and pharmaceutical manufacturers, which are so adept at patient and physician marketing and education efforts, may be well-armed to assist in this area.”

Other key findings of the research reveal that manufacturers of branded products can expect even fiercer competition from generics, though generic-only policies will probably not be employed under Part D, except perhaps for prescription coverage in the “donut hole.” Also, manufacturers will face added pressure as they vie for preferred formulary status once four- and five-tier designs and coinsurance are introduced and used to manage the utilization of more expensive specialty medications and experimental drugs.

MCO Pharmacy and Medical Directors Share Their MMA Insights

The GfK Market Measures MMA research—The Impact of MMA on Managed Care Organizations—is based on in-depth telephone interviews with 22 pharmacy directors and 11 medical directors from 27 MCOs representing at least 100,000 members each. In addition, decision-makers from 6 large Pharmacy Benefit Management firms (PBMs) participated in the study. The research was conducted between October 5 and November 10, 2005.

The current MCO study is the second of two waves. In addition to the MCO studies, GfK Market Measures has also conducted research with other key stakeholders affected by Part D—physicians and patients. While results from Wave 1 of those studies were released in October, Wave 2 results will be available in March of 2006.

About GfK Market Measures (formerly NOP World Health)

GfK Market Measures provides healthcare clients with a unique mix of custom and syndicated solutions to support the full marketing continuum, including market assessment, brand tracking, sales force effectiveness, healthcare consumer and product launch applications. GfK Market Measures is a proud member of the GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies, the largest provider of custom healthcare marketing research services in the United States. For further information please visit www.gfkmarketmeasures.com.

For more details on this study or to schedule an interview with a GfK Market Measures executive, please contact Jessica Makovsky, Group Vice President of Communications, GfK U.S. Healthcare Companies, at 215.283.3200 x372 or jmakovsky@gfkushc.com.