Even though clinical trials haven’t shown it works against COVID-19, doctors continue to prescribe ivermectin – and a new study suggests health insurers are heavily subsidizing the cost of those prescriptions. The study’s authors call for insurers to align their coverage of the drug with the level of medical evidence surrounding it — just like they do for other medications, tests and procedures. The study, published in JAMA by a team from the University of Michigan and Boston University, uses insurance data to study how much health plans paid for oral ivermectin in late 2020 and early 2021. They found that plans paid 61% to 74% of the cost, or about $36 to $39 per prescription.
