Abbott Laboratories’ rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira will receive a sales boost later this year thanks to a pilot program to cover prescriptions that aren’t currently under Medicare.The demonstration project announced last week by the Bush administration will soon provide a select 50,000 people the ability to get coverage for not only Humira but also other oral treatments for cancer or self-injected drugs to treat diseases that include multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.In the next 18 months, the pilot project will offer a glimpse of what the drug benefit approved by Congress last year, to be offered in 2006 to more than 40 million elderly and disabled people covered under the Medicare program, might look like.
