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AscellaHealth Recognizes World AIDS Day December 1, Enables Health Plans and Employers to Lower Cost, Improve Outcomes With Specialty Pharmacy SolutionsAscellaHealth, a specialty pharmacy benefit manager (SPBM), serving commercial, Medicare and Medicaid segments, joins individuals and organizations around the world in recognition of World AIDS Day, December 1, 2019, an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV, show support for people living with HIV and commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS-making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history-and approximately 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV today. "Although AIDS-related mortality has decreased over the last decade, the annual number of deaths due to AIDS has declined only minimally since 2014, driven by delayed diagnois, treatment interruptions and virologic and immunologic failure among HIV treatment-experienced people," says Dea Belazi, president and CEO, AscellaHealth. "To help health plans, employer groups and unions overcome the complexity and collaboration needed for effective management of HIV, AscellaHealth's Clinical and Educational Programs educate members on their prescribed therapy at the outset, assisting with high deductible/co-insurance costs by utilizing financial assistance programs and partnering with physicians and pharmacist throughout the member's course of treatment." Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is expensive but the cost-effectiveness of ART has been demonstrated in analyses of older and newer regimens, as well as for treatment-experienced patients with drug-resistant HIV. Understanding HIV and ART-related costs in the United States is complicated because of the wide variability in medical coverage, accessibility, and expenses across regions, insurance plans and pharmacies. AscellaHealth's high-touch model addresses the burden of drug costs associated with HIV treatment, and includes clinical interventions, adherence counseling, psychosocial assessment, integrated nursing staff, refill reminders and delivery coordination to optimize member care. "World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away - there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education," Belazi concludes. "We encourage all Americans to 'rock the red ribbon' to help raise awareness on and during the run up to World AIDS Day." AscellaHealth's program is available on a standalone basis, or as part of a full-service pharmacy benefit management option that includes specialty drug management, formulary management services/rebates, competitive pricing and innovative discounting, drug utilization review, case management services/therapy management, clinical review/prior authorization, pharmacy and therapeutic management committee, flexible claims adjudication system, drug information and news reporting.
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