Brian B. Bullock, president and CEO of The Burchfield Group, a pharmacy benefit consulting and auditing firm, believes that Express Scripts, Inc.'s purchase of Medco Health Solutions will be a 'sea change' for the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) industry.

Bullock leads a team of experts offering recommendations, actionable information, and new market opportunities created by this change for Fortune 500 corporations, large and small employers, Taft-Hartley trust funds, third party administrators, health plans, insurers, benefits/HR executives, and integrated delivery networks.

“We are helping clients assess how best to take advantage of this change, which will work itself out over time,” Bullock said in a statement. “There are very few cases where plan sponsors need to make immediate decisions that have long term consequences, but new opportunities will present themselves, and there are reasons to see this as a positive development for plan sponsor pricing.”

Burchfield anticipates a long-term decrease in pricing and believes that on the whole, the pros of this deal outweigh the cons. In the overall value chain, the retailer is the most vulnerable and will be squeezed to generate savings.

“For plan sponsors, now is a great time to conduct an RFP for PBM services, since the uncertainty of this climate may work to their advantage and vendors will potentially provide aggressive pricing to either gain or preserve market share,” Bullock said. “Those not currently conducting an RFP or renewal negotiation should take time to assess their needs and the marketplace – and engage an independent pharmacy expert to assist in the assessment.”

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