Percentage of Calif. WC Prescriptions Falling Outside the Medi-Cal Fee Schedule Database

A CWCI study finds that most injured worker prescriptions in California are in the Medi-Cal fee schedule database that sets maximum reasonable pharmacy fees and helps control workers’ comp costs, suggesting that other factors such as an increase in the number of scripts/claim, increases in Average Wholesale Prices used to calculate pharmacy fees, a shift toward more expensive drugs, and PBM contract rates and payments that exceed fee schedule allowances, may be responsible for recent growth in prescription drug costs.