Ovations Seeks To Be National Medicare Drug Plan Sponsor
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Insurer notifies CMS of its intent to offer a national prescription drug plan, making it the second large health plan after Aetna to disclose such an intent. Ovations’ parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is the largest health plan client of Medco, which has also applied to sponsor a PDP.
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Ovations will seek to sponsor a national prescription drug plan under Medicare Part D in 2006. Following Aetna, Ovations is the second large health plan to disclose that it has filed a letter of intent with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to sponsor a national PDP under Medicare Part D (1 (Also see "Aetna Seeks To Serve As National Rx Drug Plan Under Medicare Part D" - Pink Sheet, 23 Feb, 2005.)). "While this action is non-binding, it represents the first of a series of steps to be taken as CMS finalizes the details around the program implementation," Ovations said March 2. Medco and Caremark have filed notices of intent to offer standalone drug benefit programs in all 34 regions defined by CMS for Part D. Both pharmacy benefit managers have indicated their goals are to co-brand through health plans and employer clients, rather than direct marketing to seniors (2 (Also see "Caremark To Join Medco In Applying To Be National Medicare Rx Sponsor" - Pink Sheet, 16 Feb, 2005.)). Ovations' parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is Medco's largest health plan client. - Adam Eckstein |