A generic-switching incentive program is coming under fire. Costs are clearly cut when patients are switched generic medications:
An HMO owned by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan ran one such program and the insurer says it made $2 million in payments to docs but saved $5 million in drug costs. Patients saved $1 million on lower co-payments for the generics.
You can talk about professionalism all you want, but the reality is that physicians really only respond to financial incentives.
