Coalition leverages buying power for CU prescription-drug plan

Cornell has recently helped spearhead the formation of a college and university coalition, the Preferred University Rx Purchasing Coalition, to help leverage better prices for prescription drugs used by faculty and staff.

The first visible outcome of this coalition was to contract with the second-largest pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) in the country, Medco Health Inc. Serving over 65 million participants, Medco Health can provide a better pricing structure than either of the two PBMs Cornell currently uses, ExpressScripts (for Cornell's HealthNow participants) or Aetna Pharmacy Management (used by Cornell's participants in Aetna's Open Choice, 80/20 and Retirees' plans). PBMs such as Medco Health contract with all the pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country to get the greatest discounts possible for their customers. Medco Health also contracts with nearly all the retail pharmacies in the nation, gaining discounts on prescription filling fees. Medco Health's network includes every retail pharmacy in Tompkins County and surrounding areas.

Therefore, in mid-April, participants in Cornell's endowed health plans will be sent a new prescription drug card, which they will need to use, effective May 1, to purchase prescriptions. (Participants will still use their HealthNow or Aetna cards for all other health care.) Under Medco Health, HealthNow health care participants will have access to many more pharmacies in network than they do now, and there will be a single copay structure and formulary listing for both Aetna and HealthNow participants. Copayments for home delivery increase somewhat in order to more fairly reflect the costs of this service.

The coalition currently includes Cornell, Princeton, Columbia and Boston Universities. Over the long term, with even more coalition members, colleges and universities across the nation can work together to keep the cost of pharmaceuticals to a minimum. This effort is needed because pharmacy costs have been rising over 20 percent per year for several years now, which directly affects the level of premiums employees pay.

Employees will receive important information from Medco Health in April on their home e-mail, including their new prescription drug cards.