Magellan Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGLN) announced today that it has collaborated with Bayer to launch an education initiative designed to focus on women’s health and reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies through the appropriate utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC). Magellan Healthcare has launched an outreach campaign to improve education about and access to the full range of contraceptive methods for Magellan Complete Care of Florida members. In addition, in collaboration with Bayer, Magellan Rx Management, which provides pharmacy benefit management services for Magellan Complete Care of Florida, is utilizing advanced analytics to conduct intensified physician and member outreach and education to improve contraceptive utilization, including LARC therapy.

“Magellan Health continues to focus on innovative, member-centric programs, and this initiative represents another way in which Magellan is using its clinical innovation capabilities and data analytics to help improve member satisfaction and health, while reducing cost,” said Dr. Karen Amstutz, chief medical officer of Magellan Health. “By educating women and providers about the numerous choices they have across the contraceptive market, we’re helping members make the best choice for themselves and their health.

"As a leader in women’s health, Bayer is committed to increasing awareness of highly effective birth control options like intrauterine devices (IUDs) for women who can benefit from them,” said Paul Bedard, senior vice president and general manager of Bayer’s Women’s Healthcare division. “Through this innovative collaboration with Magellan, we hope to help ensure that women and their physicians have the information they need to make informed decisions about the most appropriate contraceptive methods to meet their individual needs.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 50 percent of pregnancies are unintended, costing $21 billion annually in the United States alone. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has urged Medicaid programs to adopt policies intended to increase the number of patients utilizing LARC due to the multiple clinical, economic, and patient satisfaction benefits.

About Magellan Health: Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Magellan Health, Inc. is a leader in managing the fastest growing, most complex areas of health, including special populations, complete pharmacy benefits and other specialty areas of healthcare. Magellan develops innovative solutions that combine advanced analytics, agile technology and clinical excellence to drive better decision making, positively impact health outcomes and optimize the cost of care for the members we serve — all within a customer-first culture. Magellan's customers include health plans and other managed care organizations, employers, labor unions, various military and governmental agencies and third-party administrators. For more information, visit MagellanHealth.com.

About Bayer: Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2015, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of EUR 46.3 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.3 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.