OLVG Hospital Researcher Discusses Findings in HIV/AIDS (Negative impact of a health insurer-mandated de-simplification from a single-tablet regimen to a two-tablet regimen): Immune System Diseases and Conditions – HIV/AIDS

Insurance Daily News

2024 MAY 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on HIV/AIDS have been published. According to news originating from Amsterdam, Netherlands, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Antiretroviral therapy (ART) accounts for a considerable proportion of HIV care expenses. In June 2021, a Dutch healthcare insurer implemented a mandatory policy to de-simplify branded RPV/TDF/FTC (Eviplera®) into a two-tablet regimen containing rilpivirine (Edurant®) plus generic TDF/FTC as part of cost-saving measures.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from OLVG Hospital: “The objectives of this study were to evaluate (1) the acceptance of this policy, (2) the trends in antiretroviral therapy dispensation, and (3) cost developments. A retrospective database study. In this study, medication dispensation data were obtained from the Dutch Foundation for Pharmaceutical Statistics (SFK). This database covers 98% of all medication dispensations from Dutch pharmacies including people with HIV who receive ART. We received pseudonymized data exclusively from individuals insured by the insurer for the years 2020-2022. Costs were calculated using Dutch drug prices for each year. In June 2021, 128 people with HIV were on branded RPV/TDF/FTC. Following the policy implementation, 59 (46%) had switched to RPV + generic TDF/FTC, but after 1.5 years, only 17/128 individuals (13%) used the proposed two-tablet regimen. The other 111/128 used RPV/TDF/FTC with prescriptions for ’medical necessity’ (n = 29), switched to RPV/TAF/FTC (n = 51), or other ART (n = 31). Despite expectations of cost-savings, costs increased from €72,988 in May 2021 to €75,649 in May 2022.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “A mandatory switch from an STR to a TTR in people with HIV proved unsuccessful, marked by low acceptance, and increased costs after one year. This underscores the necessity of incorporating patient and prescriber involvement in changing medication policies.”

For more information on this research see: Negative impact of a health insurer-mandated de-simplification from a single-tablet regimen to a two-tablet regimen. AIDS, 2024. The publisher for AIDS is Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health).

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1097/qad.0000000000003905.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Piter Oosterhof, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, OLVG Hospital, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Additional authors for this research include Matthijs Van Luin, Kees Brinkman, David M. Burger.