MedBen Rx Blog
Manage Drug Spend and Improve Outcomes with Pharmacogenomics
Now available through MedBen Rx, pharmacogenomic testing is transforming health care through safer and more effective personalized medicine. Determining how genes affect a person’s response to drugs not only improves patient outcomes, but it also helps control...
Major PBMs Pocketed Nearly $9 Billion through Specialty Drug Pricing Practices, FTC Finds
Through specialty generic drug markups, three major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) earned a collective $7.3 billion above estimated acquisition costs over a five-year period, according to an interim report released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)....
Drugmakers Raising Prices on Over 250 Medications in Early 2025
Pharmaceutical companies are planning to increase prices on over 250 brand-name medications in the United States at the beginning of 2025, according to an analysis by health care research firm 3 Axis Advisors. That's a notable drop from last January, during which more...
Optimize Your Health through Nutrigenomic Testing
Nutrigenomic testing, available through MedBen Rx, analyzes an individual’s genetic makeup to understand how their genes influence their response to nutrition, diet, and lifestyle factors. As the list below shows, the wealth of information uncovered through...
Rise in Obesity Drug Use Leads to Drop in More Effective Surgical Alternative
Bariatric surgeries to treat obesity dropped 25.6% from 2022 to 2023, while prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs more than doubled during that period, according to a new study of privately insured Americans with obesity. However, those who opt for the surgery are...
Harness the Power of Precision Medicine with Genomic Testing
Genomic testing is revolutionizing precision medicine, offering unprecedented insights into how your body interacts with medications and nutrients. MedBen Rx offers pharmacogenomic and nutrigenomic tests that can help optimize your employees’ health care and...
Prepping for the 2025 Health Care Cost Forecast
Health care costs in the United States are projected to see their steepest rise in over a decade during 2025, with multiple industry analyses forecasting increases between 7% and 8% year-over-year (see table below). However, MedBen offers solutions that directly...
Disparate PBM Pricing Practices Put Independent Pharmacies at Risk of Closure
KFF Health News reports on the disparity between pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) payments to large pharmacy chains compared to small drugstores: “[An American Pharmacy Cooperative] analysis early this year showed chains were paid well beyond the family business...
Rise in Specialty Drug Spend Spurs Innovative Cost-Saving Solutions
Specialty drugs continue to drive up pharmacy costs, accounting for over 50% of total drug spend for many self-funded health plans, despite being used by a small percentage of patients. But pharmaceutical and administrative solutions are available to help reduce that...
The Best Quality Care Starts Early, Says Harden at Conference
On October 1, MedBen Chairman and CEO Kurt Harden spoke on the topic "A Third-Party Payer’s Approach to Providing Quality Care While Minimizing Cost" at the 2024 Ventegra Client Conference. Ventegra serves as MedBen Rx's pharmacy benefits partner. "As a third-party...
Harden, Yu Highlight Genomic Testing Benefits at Healthcare Innovation Conference
MedBen Chairman & CEO Kurt Harden and Profero Team Director of Precision Medicine Cynthia Yu were featured presenters at the 11th Annual Sherrill-Morgan Healthcare Innovation Conference on September 18th. Harden and Yu spoke on the topic of genomic testing — what...
Humira Costliest Drug for Self-Funded Plans, But GLP-1s are Gaining Ground
Humira continued to be the costliest prescription drug for self-funded health plans in 2023 by a comfortable margin, according to a recent Milliman commercial drug trends review. Used to treat a variety of conditions from Crohn’s to rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic...