Large Employer PBM Survey From Barclays Capital

One of the analysts that I follow is Larry Marsh and his team from Barclays Capital.  They put out a lot of great data and information on the industry.  One report that I was reading earlier today is on an employer survey they did of 55 employers representing 1.75M lives.  Medco and CVS Caremark were the largest PBMs in that market segment followed by Express Scripts, Catalyst, and OptumRx.

I was a little surprised that only 76% of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their current PBM.  That’s lower than many studies show.

On the other hand, less than 50% see the proposed Express Scripts / Medco acquisition as driving lower costs (which I generally agree with).

Also, not surprisingly, employer’s specialty trend has been high and 35% of them anticipate it will be higher in 2011.

And, finally, to beat a drum I often talk about…movement to plan designs that support mail or 90-day retail and more use of step therapy are the big changes being made and planned.