This was a reporters take on a seminar presentation by Chris Pryce made at the Bellagio Event Venue (March 2nd, 2016) in front of an audience of some 200 plus Advisors, Consultants, Pharmaceutical and Third Party Administrators.
In the News – March 3, 2016 (Benefits and Pension Monitor) http://www.bpmmagazine.com/benefits_news.php
Advisors need to dare to be different and incrementally try to manage their client’s drug spend, says Chris Pryce, of Human Capital Benefits. In the session ‘Hands Off! Step Away From My Drug Maximum?’ at the Canadian Group Insurance Brokers’ ‘March Drug Seminar,’ he said they have these plans to look after, but they never give them the top-to-bottom overhaul they may need from time to time. In fact, he said one recent study showed that 90 per cent of plan sponsors have not made any changes to their plans in the last 10 years.
Unfortunately, when sponsors do look for ways to control escalating drug costs, they are giving the insurers a break by turning to caps and plan maximums. These are a bandage, a stop-gap measure, he said, that defies the principle of insurance. And while a cap may result in a short-term savings of a $1 or $2 per member, smaller plans which put these in place face huge consequences if they experience a catastrophic claim.
The industry is in a “paradigm shift,’ he said, and needs to find out if its carrier partners even want to be in game.