The managed care pharmacy perspective

Despite the important reproductive and noncontraceptive benefits of hormonal therapy, both oral contraceptives (OCs) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are underutilized, with only a small portion of eligible women receiving therapy. Increased use of hormonal therapy will result in greater pharmacy costs, a concern in the present era of cost containment that is reflected in the wide variability in coverage of hormonal therapy provided by managed care organizations. However, pharmacoeconomic research demonstrates that relatively small expenditures in pharmacy costs for hormonal therapy result in significantly lower healthcare costs per patient, through the prevention of unintended pregnancy with OCs and the noncontraceptive health benefits of both OCs and HRT.