Key Findings: 2021 Navitus Drug Trend Report

This week we provide an overview of our 2021 drug trend and client savings with insights for 2022 and beyond.

INTRODUCTION

The rising cost of prescriptions is a growing issue in health care and a top concern for most Americans. Despite needing prescription drugs to manage their health, many adults have reported not taking their medications as prescribed at least once in the past year because of cost – putting their well-being at risk.¹ Even more, 78% of Americans are personally worried a great deal or fair amount about the availability and affordability of healthcare.² The humanity has been lost.

At Navitus, we’re on a mission to change that by helping members access prescriptions at affordable prices so they can live their fullest lives. Our new 2021 Annual Drug Trend Report demonstrates we helped clients improve health outcomes and cost savings for the over 8.5 million Americans we are proud to serve through our 100% pass-through approach and lowest-net-cost formulary. Let’s dive deeper into key findings from the report and how we’re continuing our commitment to bring humanity back to health care, starting with the pharmacy benefit.

SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS FOR NEW AND RETURNING CLIENTS

Navitus’ industry-disruptive pharmacy benefits model helped new clients who moved to Navitus from another PBM save an average of 16% in 2021. The 2021 Annual Drug Trend Report also shows we continue to deliver on savings beyond year one, with supporting data on savings through years two and six years after implementation. For example, a national employer group with over 16,000 covered members achieved a combined savings of $1.8 million after two years with Navitus.

LOWEST NET-COST PHILOSOPHY DRIVES REDUCED TOTAL-NET-COST PMPM

Navitus’ 100% pass-through, lowest-net-cost approach to spend management helped reduce clients’ per member per month (PMPM) cost. Plan sponsors achieved an all-in, total-net-cost PMPM cost of $84.37 in 2021, a year-over-year increase of 1.5%.³ These results were achieved by a unit cost reduction that offset increased utilization.

HIGH MARKS FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE

At Navitus, we’re here to make a difference in health outcomes and savings – without losing sight of the core of what we do it for. There is an individual – a human being – behind every trend we monitor, every number we analyze. That makes our work personal. We focus on addressing gaps in care within each member’s prescription journey and providing best-in-class client care while sustaining savings. At the end of the day, our proven practices help clients achieve significant results while minimizing member disruption. In fact, Navitus’ client Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased to 76 from 72 in the prior year, a superstar rating⁴. Our report also shows clients were 100% satisfied with Navitus post implementation⁵.

GETTING MORE VALUE FROM SPECIALTY PHARMACY MANAGEMENT

With the skyrocketing cost of specialty medications, it’s a bigger slice of drug spend than ever before. According to our 2021 Annual Drug Trend Report, nearly half of all drug spend was driven by specialty medications, even though they represent less than 1% of utilization. The good news is that, at Navitus, we apply our same passion for affordability to specialty. We supported our clients in preferring lower-net-cost options, including significant new generic releases, and ensuring proper use of high-cost medications, lowering unit-cost trend by 4.8%. These efforts kept specialty trend to 4.3% for our clients, which is the lowest it has been in recent years.

WHAT’S TO COME IN 2022 AND BEYOND

The 2021 Annual Drug Trend Report findings underscore that investing in a PBM partner that aligns with a client’s goals is necessary to achieve desired cost savings and peace of mind that your members are receiving the best possible health care. While looking to the remainder of 2022 and the year ahead, we have identified three trends to consider when striving to maximize pharmacy benefit options, to gain control of drug spend, and to improve member health outcomes and spending:

COVID-19 vaccines will likely become an annual expenditure with higher unit costs as government subsidies end and vaccination will remain recommended for specific populations.

Continued growth is expected of specialty drug utilization and spend, primarily due to targeted immunomodulators and dermatology medications. However, anticipated biosimilar launches in 2023 may offer some savings potential moving forward.

Key drivers of trend will be in the non-specialty drug space to include diabetic agents, asthma treatments, HIV drugs and migraine medications.

DRIVEN BY HUMANITY

We believe that partnering and aligning with our clients enables us to focus on doing the right thing – lowering prescription drug costs in order to enable humans to access the medications they need and live their lives to the fullest.

To learn more, download the Navitus 2021 Drug Trend & Insights Report here.

1. Public Opinion on Prescription Drugs and Their Prices. Kaiser Family Foundation. Published April 5, 2022. Accessed May 4, 2022. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/.
2. Healthcare System. Gallup. Accessed May 5, 2022. https://news.gallup.com/poll/4708/healthcare-system.aspx.
3. All-in, net-cost PMPM was calculated from Navitus commercial clients, including employers of all types (retail, manufacturing, government, school districts) and commercial health plans, and comprised of different and varied health populations.
4. NPS is measured from -100 to 100.
5. Navitus 2021 implementation satisfaction survey.