$45 billion savings on Rx drugs in 2018 for Express Scripts clients

Leading US pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, which recently completed its merger with Cigna, claims that clinical innovations saved its clients $45 billion in 2018 and delivered a 25-year record low drug trend of just 0.4% across employer-sponsored plans, according to data released yesterday in its annual Drug Trend Report, an analysis of drug spending in the USA.

Express Scripts' solutions for driving lower drug prices and fostering the use of lower-net-cost treatments are making medication more accessible for beneficiaries. Unit drug costs decreased in 2018 for employer-sponsored and Medicare plans, while utilization of medications rose.

Patients in employer-sponsored plans paid just $0.06 more, on average, for a 30-day prescription than in 2017. Out-of-pocket costs, inclusive of deductibles and prescription drug copayments, for members of employer-sponsored plans were 15% of total prescription costs in 2018.