Archive: Pharmacy Benefits

  • July 16, 2021

    The Perfect PBM: Does it Exist?

    The perfect PBM does not exist, because no PBM might be perfection. However, that is unrealistic knowing that there are more than 20,000 prescription drugs on the market at any one time, more than 65,000 retail pharmacies out there in …

  • July 13, 2021

    Better Benefits in 90 | Kinetiq Health Pharmacy Benefits Consulting Program

    Does your organization take an active approach to saving money through its pharmacy benefits program? You’d be surprised at the potential cost saving opportunities that exist. At Apex, our Kinetiq Health Pharmacy Benefits Consulting Program just does that — save …

  • July 9, 2021

    Walmart’s Life- and Cost-Saving Insulin

    Walmart recently released its own brand of analog insulin for people with diabetes to boost its pharmacy business and compete with Amazon’s recent push to sell more medications.

  • July 8, 2021

    Wee Dose of Radical Transparency | EP 12

    If you’re managing a self-funded healthcare plan in 2021, chances are you know about specialty medications and how they can devastate a pharmacy benefit budget. Specialty drugs are becoming more common, so your organization needs to have a plan for …

  • July 7, 2021

    Better Benefits in 90 | Spread Pricing

    What is spread pricing? It’s how PBMs make money at the expense of you paying more money for your prescription drugs. Apex Chief Operating Officer Jim Harenberg gives an example of spread pricing and why customers should combat it in …

  • June 29, 2021

    Better Benefits in 90 | The Real Value of Saving 30% on Pharmacy Benefits

    Jim Harenberg, Apex Benefits COO, discusses what 10-30% savings on pharmacy benefits means to your company in real dollars.

  • May 14, 2021

    Shopping for Your Prescription Drugs Online: An Update

    This new search tool includes pricing of 60,000 pharmacies across the US, according to the blog post and link above. Naturally, as a pharmacist, I was curious so I took this search tool for a test drive today to check …

  • May 6, 2021

    Ways to Save? Importation of Drugs From Canada: Think Twice

    While some individuals and their employers have obtained medications through personal importation that appear to reduce the drug’s cost, the savings results are not universal and there are other considerations that as a pharmacist I think every employer and their …

  • April 7, 2021

    Apex Grows Pharmacy Benefits Specialist Team

    Apex Benefits, Indiana’s largest employer health benefits advisory firm and services provider, is proud to announce the addition of two more employees to its Kinetiq Health team of Certified Pharmacy Benefits Specialists. Advisor Mark Goodpaster and Senior Account Executive Joni …

  • March 31, 2021

    Wee Dose of Radical Transparency | EP 11

    Chances are if you manage a self-funded health plan, you know how important specialty meds are to your overall costs. The complex administration of these high-costs drugs can be intimidating. But as an HR administrator, you shouldn’t be as there’s …

  • March 14, 2021

    Wee Dose of Radical Transparency | EP 10

    Less is more, right? When it comes to pharmacy benefits, this is absolutely applicable. It’s called Lesser of Language, or language in your PBM contract that instructs PBMs must use the lowest price of a drug on the market when …

  • February 19, 2021

    Wee Dose of Radical Transparency | EP 9

    Have you ever caught yourself forgetting what a certain acronym stands for? There’s so many in the world that we’re bound to forget one on occasion. It’s the same with the acronyms in pharmacy benefits.