Welcome  to  Public  Health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. Biotech  drugs  used  to  treat  people  suffering  from rheumatoid  arthritis  cost  as much  as  ten  times  conventional  medicine. But  often  these  drugs  are  also  more  effective. However,  a  new  study  shows  that arthritis  sufferers  are  less  likely  to  use these  more  powerful  drugs  if their  health  insurance  provider  requires  a  higher  co, pay  to  purchase  them. University  of  Minnesota  Health  Policy  Professor  Pad, the  study's  lead  researcher, explains  spending  for  this  class  of  drugs, specialty  drugs  in  general, is  growing  very  rapidly. So  it's  understandable  that benefit  managers  have  to  be  more interested  in  monitoring  and containing  utilization  of  these  drugs. The  key  question  is  how  to  do  it. She  says  that  health  insurance  companies need  to  establish  more  flexible  guidelines. These  could  ensure  that  those  who  would  truly benefit  from  the  drugs  can  afford  to  take  them. If  high  cost  sharing  across the  board  forces  some  of  these  people  in  need, in  true  need  away  from  the  preferred  therapies, then  it  may  end  up  producing  more  complications and  potentially  higher  overall  healthcare  costs. So  it's  really  important  to  understand  the  effects  of the  benefits  and  to  be  able  to  target  those  at  most  risk. And  once  you  identify  those  in  real  need, increasing  patients  out  of  pocket  makes little  sense  with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.