CVS Reports Lowest Drug Trend in Years

CVS Health Corp.’s 2019 drug trend report shows a 1.4% overall trend, the lowest in five years, and said 41% of its commercial clients saw negative trend. Specialty drugs accounted for almost half of all spending and remained the fastest growing spending category in the pharmacy benefit. Autoimmune treatments, including some of the highest volume medications — Humira, Enbrel, Rituxan and Remicade — comprised a third of specialty pharmacy spending. CVS’s Advanced Control Specialty Formulary (ACSF) helped its clients reach -9.4% price growth in the category. As 20 biosimilars are expected to come to the specialty marketplace by 2023, payers may see significant savings, according to CVS.

© 2024 MMIT
Jinghong Chen

Jinghong Chen Reporter

Jinghong has been producing infographics and data stories on employer-sponsored insurance, public health insurance programs and prescription drug coverage for AIS Health’s Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits since 2018. She also manages AIS Health’s annual executive compensation database for top insurers and Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliates. Before joining AIS Health, she interned at WBEZ, Al Jazeera English and The New York Times Chinese. She graduated from Missouri School of Journalism with a focus on data journalism and international reporting.

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