Mail order programs are suitable for maintenance drugs, typically used to treat chronic conditions. It is estimated that between 65 and 75 percent of prescription drugs are for chronic conditions. In most plans, mail order programs require lower co-payments than those that apply to prescriptions filled at local pharmacies. Also, prescriptions are usually filled with 90-day supplies, rather than 30, as is typically the case with pharmacy filled prescriptions. A generic drug has the identical chemical composition as its brand name equivalent, and must meet the same government standards.
Generics are therapeutically equivalent to their brand name counterparts.
Generic substitutions become available when the patent on the brand name drug expires. Generics are less expensive than brand names. These are all reasonable cost containment methods provided that safeguards are built in to ensure, for example, that an adequate number of pharmacies participate in the drug card plan, that mail orders are filled on a timely basis, and so on. Newer approaches to controlling prescription drug costs, however, are more controversial. Some plans are dropping drug coverage entirely or shifting more costs to employees.