Drug Trend Reports: Quick Summary Of Big Three PBMs

“Comparative” is a very loose word to use here since each PBM has a slightly different approach to their analysis.

But, while it’s truly impossible to compare apples to apples and I will continue to argue that trend may be an irrelevant metric, I know may consultants and others are focused on these metrics.

With that in mind, I pulled the trend numbers (overall and specialty) along with the generic fill rate from the Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and Prime Therapeutics trend reports.

Notes:

• I used the CVS Caremark health plan overall and specialty trend data which I thought would be most comparable to Prime’s data.
• Express Scripts reports their overall trend (without specialty) being 0.1%.
• CVS Caremark provides a break out of trend along with best practices by sector (see below).