Wellpoint, Others Limit Coverage of Celebrex, Times Reports
Bloomberg News
January 8, 1999, 9:54 a.m. ET
St. Louis, Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Wellpoint Health Networks
Inc., Aetna U.S. Healthcare and other U.S. health-care companies
and insurers plan to limit coverage of Monsanto Co.'s newly
approved Celebrex arthritis drug, possibly because of its price,
the New York Times reported. Wellpoint and Aetna have restricted
use of the drug, while United Healthcare Corp. has given the drug
the lowest reimbursement it offers. Officials at Wellpoint and
Kaiser Permanente Group, which is considering not covering the
drug, said Celebrex is much more expensive than generic brands,
the paper said.
Monsanto, a leading agricultural-products company expanding
into pharmaceuticals, said last month it will sell Celebrex
arthritis drug at prices as low as or lower than comparable brand-
name painkillers.
(New York Times 1/8 C18 www.nytimes.com) |
