NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Employers plan to
significantly involve their workers in long-term strategies to control
prescription drug costs. This finding is among the results of a survey
released today by Buck Consultants, an ACS company and one of the world's
leading human resource and benefits consulting firms.
Buck's study, "Understanding Your Strategies for Coping with the
Changing Pharmacy Benefit Landscape," was conducted in the first quarter of
2008. The goal of the survey was to identify strategies employers are using
to manage their prescription drug benefits and costs.
"Emerging developments in the pharmaceutical industry are challenging
employers to revisit their drug benefit strategy," said Michael Jacobs, a
principal at Buck Consultants. "Unprecedented availability of inexpensive
generics and the emergence of new, very expensive specialty medications are
two of the trends driving this strategy review."
More than 150 organizations participated in the survey. Respondents
represent a broad range of industries and employer size.
Current State of Affairs
Essentially all (99%) respondents provide prescription drug coverage as
part of their health care program for active employees. The two reasons
given as most important for providing this coverage are the health of
employees and business competitiveness.
Fifty-one percent of respondents use employee cost sharing as a
utilization management tool. The most common cost-sharing range is 21
percent to 30 percent (used by 44 percent of respondents).
"While the cost of prescription drug coverage varies widely, more than
one-third (37%) of respondents say pharmacy benefits represent between 16
percent and 20 percent of total health care costs," said Jacobs. "Another
29 percent indicate pharmacy benefits are more than 21 percent of total
health plan costs."
When asked about the strengths and weaknesses of their current pharmacy
benefit programs, the respondents cited "easy pharmacy network access" and
"comprehensive formulary" as the top strengths, and "complete disclosure of
manufacturer revenue" and "complete disclosure of all costs" as major
weaknesses.
Benefits and Cost Management Strategies
According to the survey respondents, the most important clinical
management steps they are taking to control pharmacy benefit costs are
disease management, care management and smoking cessation programs.
"In terms of long-term cost control strategies, employers plan on heavy
employee involvement," said Jacobs.
The survey found that the following top the list of strategic
initiatives for long-term cost management:
-- Providing employees with tools and information
-- Providing employee education
-- Worksite wellness and health activities.
Specialty Drugs
Fifty-two percent of survey respondents believed that specialty
medications -- complex drugs that are often injected or infused --
represent 10 percent or less of their total pharmacy costs. However, a full
28 percent of respondents didn't know their relative spend on these
expensive drugs.
"Managing these specialty drugs will be key to future cost containment
strategies for employers," said Jacobs. "And it's interesting that, when
asked which tools are used to manage specialty medication therapies, less
than 10 percent mentioned either 'discontinuation of unsuccessful therapy,'
'payer communication' or 'family involvement'."
Buck Consultants, an ACS company, is a leader in human resource and
benefits consulting with more than 1,500 professionals worldwide. Founded
in 1916 to advise clients in establishing and funding some of the nation's
first public and private retirement programs, Buck is an innovator in the
areas of retirement benefits, health and welfare programs, human capital
management, and employee communication. News and other information about
Buck Consultants are available at http://www.buckconsultants.com. Buck is an
independent subsidiary of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
ACS, a global FORTUNE 500 company with 63,000 people supporting client
operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides business process
outsourcing and information technology solutions to world-class commercial
and government clients. The company's Class A common stock trades on the
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACS." Learn more about ACS at
http://www.acs-inc.com.
Buck's survey report, "Understanding Your Strategies for Coping with
the Changing Pharmacy Benefit Landscape," is available to the media by
contacting Ed Gadowski at 201-902-2825. It is available to other interested
parties for $100 from Buck's Global Survey Resources, 500 Plaza Drive,
Secaucus, NJ, 07096-1533. Telephone 1-800-887-0509. It also can be ordered
online at http://www.bucksurveys.com.
SOURCE Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.acs-inc.com
http://www.bucksurveys.com
CONTACT:
Ed Gadowski, Media Relations of Buck
Consultants, +1-201-902-2825,
edward.gadowski@buckconsultants.com; or Carol DeMatteo, Corporate
Communications of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.,
+1-214-841-8110, carol.dematteo@acs-inc.com
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