Drug benefit plan trends: Plan sponsors weigh weight management, gene therapy

New pharmacy products and services are flooding the benefits realm. Plan designers and their clients have their hands full determining how best to integrate them into an overall package for plan members. A recent study released by Pharmaceutical Strategies Group offers insight into how these partners are currently choosing what, and what not, to offer their covered members.

Trends in Drug Benefit Design, an annual report by PSG, focuses on trends in access and affordability. The entire report comprises nearly 70 pages of findings and narrative. Topics covered range widely. Perhaps the most relevant are comparisons between choices made by employers and by health plans, and their decisions on such topics as cost-sharing, genetic-related solutions, transparency tools, new weight-loss drugs, and how best to manage the design phase.

Following are excerpts from the data, as well as excerpts from an online interview with one of the report authors. “All” refers to the study’s input from small employers, large employers, and health plans.