Best Practices in Light of Growing Accumulator Program Activities

In recent years, there has been an increased prevalence in the marketplace of so-called accumulator programs, which exclude the value of pharmaceutical cost-sharing assistance (e.g., coupons, drug discount cards, copay assistance programs) from patients’ annual cost-sharing responsibilities to their insurers. The existence of these copay accumulator programs is often unknown to either the patient or the manufacturer sponsoring the cost-sharing assistance. Meena Datta, Ben Correa, and Kathy Lee discuss best practices for navigating these programs.