As benefits brokers and benefits managers look for new and innovative ways to bring value to their clients and employees, they cannot ignore the $139 billion prescription industry.

Prescription costs are estimated to be between 20 percent to 30 percent of the total health plan cost in America and are rising by 10 percent to 20 percent annually. When employers sponsor health care plans, most will have a prescription benefit imbedded in the program. Self-funded employers can be at great risk with these types of plans due to overutilization, partly caused by drug companies. The prescription manufacturers all push for usage of their products and Americans have responded by requesting more and more prescriptions from their doctors.

Pharmacy benefit management companies are truly the middlemen in the industry. As the middleman, they work to satisfy both the manufacturers and distributors while also appeasing their end users: the employer and their employees.