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The largest health care insurer in Alabama will stop covering the prescriptions of OxyContin as part of an effort to discourage opioid abuse.
November 7, 2018 at 13:26
Alabama's Blue Cross will abandon the OxyContin cover in 2019
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – The largest health care insurer in Alabama will stop covering the prescriptions of OxyContin as part of an effort to discourage opioid abuse.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama announced Tuesday that they would stop covering the standard formulation of OxyContin and its generic drug, Oxycodone ER, on Jan. 1. The changes are part of the opioid management strategy of the insurer for commercial members.
The insurer will cover alternatives to the Xtampza ER and Roxybond oxycodone, designed to be more difficult to use. It will also cover Lucemyra, a newly approved non-opioid, designed to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms.
According to Alabama's opioid action plan, there were 741 overdose deaths in 2016. The insurer said in a statement that opioid prescriptions had dropped by 18% in the last two years, but ongoing measures were needed.
Information provided by: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews
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