There are several ways that costs can sneak into employers’ pharmacy plan spend. From drug manufacturers’ pricing practices to bundled pharmacy arrangements, RxBenefits’ Chief Client Officer, Nathan White, shared with California Business Journal five hidden costs found in pharmacy benefits that can cause employers to overpay on the prescription drug program. The following is a brief excerpt, you can read the full article here.
5 Hidden Costs In Pharmacy Benefits
It has become a priority for many self-insured employers to reduce the cost of their pharmacy benefits while protecting the health of their members. Unfortunately, the industry is very opaque, and it can be challenging to uncover the hidden costs.
Here are the five most common.
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- Unscrupulous Drug Pricing Practices
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Most prescription drugs represent medical breakthroughs and priceless treatments, but some do not. While we can all get onboard paying for new therapies that offer life-altering and life-saving treatment, we should take issue with drug manufacturers using shortcut methods, like evergreening and parity pricing, to drive higher margins and capture more market share. These legal practices introduce costly, wasteful low clinical value drugs to the market, catching payers unaware.
Impact: If not managed appropriately, problematic drug pricing practices present unlimited financial threat to employer-sponsored Rx plans.
