Christine Johnston on why Medicaid leads in biosimilar adoption

Medicaid plans have adopted biosimilars more than Medicare, commercial and employer-sponsored plans, largely because financial pressure has pushed them to prefer the lowest-cost drugs, according to Christine Johnston, general manager of Foundational Pharmacy Strategies. Johnston spoke with Managed Healthcare Executive about how biosimilar uptake varies across markets.

People with insurance through their employer, by contrast, typically have more access to higher-cost drugs, Johnston said. But she doesn’t see that as a better outcome for them, because wider use of high-cost drugs means higher premiums and higher overall costs.

Part of the problem, she said, is a belief that a more expensive drug is a better drug. “I think that we have this perception in this country that more expensive equals better,” Johnston said. She compared it to cars: She drives a Honda, which may not have all the bells and whistles of a Lexus, but she doesn’t feel shortchanged by it.

In this video, Johnston discusses why biosimilar adoption differs across Medicaid, Medicare and commercial plans and why a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality.