Step Therapy

With certain prescription drugs, you must use step therapy. This means trying a preferred drug as the first step in treating your medical condition.

The preferred drug is:

  • Safe
  • Clinically effective
  • Cost-effective
  • Often a generic drug

You can get non-preferred drugs, but only if the preferred drug isn’t effective or tolerated well. This means you must try the preferred drug first. For example, before you use the brand name lipid lowering drug Crestor®, you must try pravastatin, a clinically equivalent generic drug. 

Note: If you have tried the preferred drug in the last 180 days, you will get automatic approval for the non-preferred drug. Once approved, there is no expiration date.

Last Updated 3/20/2022