CVS Caremark® defines future of pharmacy benefit management

CVS Caremark pledges to accelerate transparency, drive to lowest net cost prescription drugs, strengthen pharmacy relations, and deliver the best clinical care in pharmacy

WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Caremark^®, the nation's leading pharmacy benefit manager and a CVS Health^® (NYSE: CVS) company, today announced a renewed pledge to American businesses, unions, and health plans — building on what the company is doing to deliver greater transparency, lower drug costs, and better clinical care for the most utilized health benefit.

"The way we have done our work over the past few decades has driven greater cost savings, better care, and more robust benefits for the Americans we serve," said David Joyner, president of CVS Caremark. "Our work is rooted in greater simplicity and transparency for those who pay for pharmacy benefits, for people who take medicine, and for the pharmacies that serve our patients."

The Caremark Client and Member Pledge includes our commitments to:

• Deliver greater affordability. We are dedicated to driving affordability for prescription drugs. By continuing to promote generics, expand availability of biosimilars, and secure significant discounts on brand-name medications, we ensure Caremark members pay an average out-of-pocket cost of less than $8 for a 30-day supply of medicine. This proactive approach is at the heart of what we do.
  
  
• Promote lowest net cost drugs. We provide choice to our clients who design the benefits that are best for their members, and as part of that work, we continue to promote and advocate for low-list price, low net cost drugs.
  
  
• Strengthen the alignment between client benefit design, physician choice, and patient need. We will continue to drive transparent prescriber connectivity — with real-time updates on benefit and formulary changes to reduce delays. We continue to closely align to and advocate for client needs, patient needs, and doctors' orders.
  
  
• Innovate to drive greater transparency. Our new TrueCost™ solution aligns client and pharmacy reimbursement specific costs, provides greater transparency, and includes additional dispensing fees for the services pharmacists provide. We will continue to offer differential reimbursement to independent and rural community pharmacies to maintain member access. 
  
  
• Encourage pharmacy models that deliver rebate value directly to patients. Today, 99% of rebates we negotiate are passed through to clients, which they use to pay down the cost of benefits. With our TrueCost model, we return savings to patients directly at the pharmacy counter, which we do for employees at CVS Health today.
  
  
• Improve relations with pharmacies. We will make it easier to do business with us by building upon what we have done: proactively addressing pharmacy access through partnering with rural pharmacies, updating technology for seamless transactions, making reimbursement transparent, and delivering a consistent experience at the counter.
  
  
• Change the trajectory of drug costs. Building on our history of standing with clients and consumers against pharmaceutical company price hikes, we will be the counterweight to stop price gouging. Through our formulary strategies to drive down costs, we continue to put medicine within reach — like breaking down the patent wall associated with high-priced Humira and providing insulin under $25 and broadly available to all Americans. We will do more.

"We all want affordable access to prescription drugs, and Caremark will continue to drive down costs, improve care, and accelerate transparency," Joyner said. "For our thousands of clients and millions of Americans, Caremark is the difference between affording medicine and going without. We take our commitments to heart and will deliver on our promise to everyone we serve."

About CVS Health

CVS Health^® is the leading health solutions company, broadening access to care for millions of people nationwide. We improve the health of communities across America through our local presence, digital channels and with over 300,000 dedicated colleagues – including more than 40,000 physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and nurse practitioners. We support individuals with their health – whether that's managing health conditions, staying compliant with their medications or accessing affordable health services in the most convenient ways. Our goal is to create seamless connections across the health care system, simplifying the experience and being a trusted partner for every meaningful moment of health. And we do it all with heart, each and every day. Follow @CVSHealth on social media. 

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David Whitrap

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SOURCE CVS Health