CVS Health Drug Trend Report Highlights Specialty Spending

In its 2020 Drug Trend Report, CVS Health Corp.’s Caremark PBM said its overall drug trend increased by 2.9% in 2020 and that 34% of its clients saw their pharmacy benefit spending decrease.

According to the report, specialty drug costs were the biggest concern. In fact, specialty treatments accounted for 52% of pharmacy spending in 2020, with 90% of spending concentrated on just five therapeutic categories. Despite that, the report asserts that “more than 40% of [Caremark] clients had single- digit specialty trend,” and “18% of [Caremark] clients had negative specialty trend.”

© 2024 MMIT
Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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