At a time when national attention is focused on rising prescription drug costs, a recent report published by IngenioRx, the pharmacy benefit manager for Anthem, demonstrates that pharmacy management strategies employed by Anthem health plans were successful in keeping overall drug trend essentially flat for Anthem plans with integrated pharmacy and medical benefits.

Driven by whole health management strategies, drug spending for Anthem clients with integrated medical and pharmacy benefits rose by just .9 percent in 2018, according to the newly released 2018 Total View Drug Trend Report. Without such management, drug trend would have risen almost 7 percent based on a combination of inflation, increased drug use and new drugs launched last year.

“Results demonstrate the steps we’re taking to restore trust and confidence in pharmacy care are paying off and delivering real value to our clients and members,” said Deepti Jain, president of IngenioRx. “Across our commercial business, the year over year drug spending increase under the pharmacy benefit only was a remarkably low .2 percent.”

Offsetting Drug Trend Increases due to Growing use of Specialty Drugs
Spending on specialty drugs, used to treat complex conditions such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, continue to grow as a result of increasing prices, higher utilization and the introduction of new drugs. The report identified that IngenioRx’s pharmacy management strategies worked across the medical and pharmacy benefits to reduce total specialty drug trend from 11.5 percent to 7 percent.

Conclusion
At Anthem, we expect more from pharmacy care and are putting solutions in place that allow us to deliver the improved outcomes to the people and families we serve. IngenioRx’s 2018 Total View Drug Trend Report demonstrates the value of looking holistically at members’ health outcomes and total costs across the continuum of care. By creating an integrated view of drug spending across medical and pharmacy benefits, we are looking to demystify the pharmacy experience and make care delivery simpler and more affordable.

Read the full report: 2018 Total View Drug Trend Report