Radar on Drug Benefits

Optum Rx’s PBM Pricing Model May Have Hidden Costs

  • Jun 13
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    Jun 13, 2024

    Experts say they’re skeptical that a pricing tool unveiled on May 20 by Optum Rx, UnitedHealth Group’s PBM division, will make significant changes to the PBM business model or generate major savings for plan sponsors. Indeed, some experts say that the model, Clear Trend Guarantee, could in practice be used to obscure rebate revenue that plan sponsors would otherwise collect. 

    According to a UnitedHealth press release, the new product “combines guarantees into a single per member cost” that “will offer drug benefit plan sponsors greater predictability of pharmacy spend to help manage total lowest net cost.”  

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    • Peter Johnson

    Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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Lauren Flynn Kelly

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View Lauren Flynn Kelly's Profile

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Managing Editor, Radar on Specialty Pharmacy and Spotlight on Market Access

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Managing Editor, Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits

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Tim Casey

Reporter, Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits

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Carina Belles

Reporter, Radar on Medicare Advantage and Spotlight on Market Access

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Jinghong Chen

Reporter, Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits

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Jill Drachenberg

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Drug Pricing
PBMs/Pharmacy Benefit Managers
Employer Group Health Plans
Benefit Design
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