Supporting Your Team Amid Rising Health Care Costs: Leveraging Pharmacy Programs
October 10, 2024The rising trend in health care costs shows no signs of slowing, placing a growing burden on both employers and individuals. High prescription drug prices, increases in outpatient procedures, and more members requiring costly hospital care are straining health plans, employers, members and the broader health care system.
The rising costs of care and growing demand for medical services are driving up premium rates and out-of-pocket expenses for members and employers across the country. We recognize the challenges this creates and understand how difficult it can be to manage. That’s why it’s crucial for us to seek solutions that prioritize employee wellbeing while addressing the financial pressures of these increasing expenses. So, how can you ensure your employees are well-supported, and what steps is Univera Healthcare taking to help mitigate these costs?
First, our mission to help people in our communities live healthier and more secure lives through access to high-quality health care that’s as affordable as possible. It’s what guides everything we do and every decision we make. Because of that, we spend almost all of your premium dollars on member care.
We believe that costs should never compromise outcomes. That’s why we’ve developed a range of innovative programs focused on delivering high-quality care while managing rising expenses. These programs are designed to prioritize affordability and simplifying the experience for everyone, helping to control costs related to medications, chronic conditions, overall wellbeing and more.
Pharmacy Programs
We’re seeing a rise in high-cost medications, particularly cancer therapies. Specialty drugs, which are often used to treat rare, complex, or chronic conditions, tend to be expensive and require special handling. These medication are typically obtained through specialty pharmacies.
Our pharmacy programs are built on clinical expertise, adherence and safety, in-depth knowledge of newly approved and upcoming drugs, and strong partnerships with pharmaceutical manufacturers. These element allow us to create innovative savings programs for you and your employees. We offer a variety of cost-saving initiatives for both self-insured and fully insured employees, such as:
- Pharmacy Concierge: Focusing on proper medication and safety with no member disruption, our clinical pharmacists work behind the scenes with the member’s prescriber to help improve patient outcomes and find pharmacy cost savings opportunities. *
- Specialty Drug Benefit Optimization: The goal of the program is to drive affordability by reducing spend for specialty drugs that can be converted from the medical benefit to the pharmacy benefit at a lower net cost.
- Site of Care: This program provides outreach to members who are currently receiving certain infusion drugs at high-cost facilities and aids in transitioning the members to home infusion or lower cost facilities. *
Steps You Can Take to Help Control Costs:
- Download our Pharmacy saving toolkit where you can access ready-to-use educational resources and prewritten emails for sharing with your employees. It’s designed to promote dialogue and help you and your employees navigate Univera Healthcare’s pharmacy programs that can drive down pharmacy costs and help improve outcomes.
- Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your account manager or broker for more information on these programs.
- For more helpful content to educate and engage your employees in their health care, you can download a variety of resources across UniveraForBusiness.com