By Amina Niasse
According to a new survey published by a consulting firm MERCER, more than half of the New York (Reuters) -American large -scale employers will increase the cost of making budgets for weight loss and professional drugs next year.
51%of employers with more than 500 workers said they plan to increase the cost sharing in 2026, including deductions and the maximum cost of the workers. This has risen from 45%of large -scale employers who said they would increase cost sharing in 2025.
The concern about the cost of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, has been named for the best issue for them, consulting said.
Mercer’s pharmacy innovation leader, Alysha Fluno, said in an interview, “I don’t know how long more customers can deal with these drugs.”
Fluno guarantees some GLP-1, which expects long-term health saving, but prices are forced to think again.
Fluno has said that it will provide more negotiations with pharmaceutical producers and lead to meaningful cost savings for pharmaceutical benefit managers who will be competition in the weight loss drug market for the next few years.
NOVO’s Wegovy and ELI Lilly’s Zepbounds are listed for $ 1086 and $ 1059, respectively, but many patients pay less through health plans.
According to a survey, prescription costs increased 8% last year. MERCER predicts that the total health benefits in 2025 will increase 5.8%.
According to Mercer, employers are watching an alternative to traditional pharmacy benefits managers (PBMS).
PBMs, such as CVS CAREMARK, CIGNA’s Express Scripts and UnitedhealthCare’s Optum RX, serve as a broker between pharmaceutical companies and consumers. They negotiate both discounts and fees with drug manufacturers on behalf of their employers and health plans, prepare a list of medicines that are covered by insurance, and repay pharmacy for prescriptions.
Pharmaceutical companies say they have been cut off without disclosing the discount they receive instead of sharing with the patient and the paymenter.
The demand for regulatory research and transparency is raising interest in new models and emerging PBMs, and 34%of employers are considering switches.
According to a survey, 40%of employers are considering an alternative contract model for prescription drugs, such as drugs based on wholesale prices paid by retail pharmacy.
The regulatory authorities have criticized the industry’s rejected criticism by the largest pharmacy benefit manager that ploted the patient to more expensive drugs and generating sales profits by swelling.
