Measuring the impact of point of sale rebates on the commercial health insurance market

There has been heightened interest in understanding the dynamics, challenges, and impacts of passing pharmacy rebates directly to members at the point of sale (POS). In this paper, we discuss our modeling of the impact of applying all manufacturer rebates at the POS, observing the resulting reallocation of payer and member costs among four different plan designs typically found in the employer market. To better gauge the variation in member cost sharing, we also worked with PhRMA, which commissioned the analysis, to develop hypothetical profiles of patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease and those with diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.

This report was commissioned by PhRMA.