Effective January 1, 2018, Independence will make the changes detailed below to specialty drugs requiring precertification under the medical benefit.

Additions

New precertification requirements will apply to Independence commercial and Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO members for the following specialty drugs as of January 1, 2018:

• Fasenra^? (benralizumab)
• Luxturna^? (voretigene neparvovec)
• Mvasi^? (bevacizumab-awwb)
• Radicava^? (edaravone)
• Somatuline^? Depot (lanreotide)
• Sustol^? (granisetron extended release)

In addition, the following drugs are currently pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These drugs will require precertification from Independence once they receive FDA approval in 2018, or on January 1, 2018, for any drug approved in 2017:

• Exenatide sustained-release ITCA 650
• Herceptin^? (trastuzumab) biosimilar
• Neulasta^? (pegfilgrastim) biosimilar
• Rituxan^? (rituximab) biosimilar

Deletions

The following drugs will no longer require precertification from Independence as of January 1, 2018:

• Berinert^? (C1 esterase inhibitor [human])*
• Cinryze^? (C1 esterase inhibitor [human])*
• Cubicin^? (daptomycin)
• Faslodex^? (fulvestrant)
• Kalbitor^? (ecallantide)
• Myozyme^? (alglucosidase alfa)
• Ruconest^? (C1 esterase inhibitor recombinant)*
• Synribo^? (omacetaxine mepesuccinate)

These changes are reflected in an updated precertification requirement list, which has been posted to our website.

Please note: In a previously published version of this article, Independence stated that the drugs Emend^? for injection (fosaprepitant), Cinvanti^? (aprepitant), and Varubi^? (rolapitant) would require precertification approval effective January 1, 2018. Based on provider feedback, Independence has reconsidered this position. Therefore, these three drugs will not require precertification approval.

*Effective January 1, 2018, these drugs will no longer be eligible for coverage under the medical benefit. As self-administered drugs, they will now be eligible for coverage under the pharmacy benefit for members with Independence prescription drug coverage. Members who do not have prescription drug coverage through Independence should contact their pharmacy benefits manager to determine if coverage for these self-administered drugs is available.