Payers Continue to Employ Array of Specialty Drug Management Strategies

Rebates continue to be a huge part of the specialty pharmacy space, with 93% of respondents to a recent survey receiving them for drugs in the pharmacy benefit. Meanwhile, 44% of respondents said their firm received rebates for medical benefit drugs, representing an increase from 39% in the prior year’s survey. Those are just some of the findings in the Trends in Specialty Drug Benefits Report from Pharmaceutical Strategies Group (PSG), an EPIC company.

The 11th annual report, which reflects 2023 information, was fielded from Sept. 18 through Oct. 13, 2023. The primary source of respondents was PSG’s proprietary database of drug benefit decision makers, and they included people from employers, health plans (or third-party administrators or insurance companies) or union/Taft-Hartley plans. There were 185 benefits leaders from plan sponsors with an estimated 86.6 million lives.