Consumers More Satisfied with Pharmacy Plans Than Overall Health Plans; Caredata.com Survey Ranks Merck-Medco No. 1 Pharmacy Benefit Manager for Second Year in a Row.

ATLANTA--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 13, 1999--

Caredata.com (Nasdaq/NM:CDCM), a leading healthcare intelligence and Internet content provider, today released the results of its 1999 Commercial Health Plan Survey, which reveals that consumer satisfaction with prescription drug plans is higher than satisfaction with overall health plans among the commercial managed care plan members surveyed.

The survey of more than 24,000 managed care members found that while only 54 percent of commercial managed care plan members were highly satisfied with their health plan, 63 percent were highly satisfied with their prescription drug plan. Aspects of pharmacy benefits with which plan members were most satisfied include the "ability to get the best medication" and "convenience of getting refills." Less highly rated was "the amount paid for a prescription (co-pay)."

"The survey results reinforce the continued importance of pharmacy benefits to managed care health plans," said Tony Morgan, vice president of research for Caredata.com's Consumer Research Group. "Fifty percent of survey participants who have a choice of plans cited prescription drug coverage as one of the top three reasons for selecting a health plan. Satisfaction with the prescription drug plan is often a key driver of overall satisfaction with health plans and their ability to retain members."

The survey also found, however, that overall ratings of pharmacy benefits in managed care have fallen four percentage points in the past two years, from 67 percent highly satisfied in 1997, to 63 percent in 1999.

According to Morgan, two findings from the survey help explain this decline. "First, in just one year, the number of members paying more than $5 for a generic drug went from 31 percent to 40 percent. Looking at branded medications, those paying more than $10 for a prescription rose from 13 percent in 1998 to 31 percent in 1999. The fact that the cost and availability of medications are major issues in healthcare today is nothing new, but the speed of change and the force of its impact on consumers is striking," said Morgan. "The report also found that at the same time the proportion of health plan members who have restrictions on which drugs will be covered in their plan increased from 29 percent to 57 percent."

The 1999 Caredata.com Commercial Health Plan Survey was conducted with the assistance of 240 large and mid-sized employers in 28 markets around the country. Among the twelve major pharmacy benefit managers (PBM's) evaluated in the 1had also been ranked first for its mail serviceckground and credentials of physicians, assess mvices.

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