, /PRNewswire/ -- Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefits services business of , a subsidiary of (NYSE: ), today released research spotlighting that members with employer-provided coverage paid less at the pharmacy counter for prescription drugs in 2023 compared to the previous year. On average, members with employer-sponsored drug coverage paid out-of-pocket for a 30-day prescription in 2023, a decrease of about 1% compared to 2022. While drug manufacturers raised prices for 60% of branded drugs in 2023, data confirm that Express Scripts lowered out of pocket costs for these members as a result of its negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers and innovative solutions, even as consumer prices for goods and services increased in from 2022 to 2023.
"Express Scripts continues to bring down medication costs for patients," said Adam Kautzner, Pharm.D., president of Evernorth Care Management and Express Scripts.
"Despite rising costs of prescription drugs and inflation, our commercial members' average cost share has increased by no more than 1.1% year over year since 2020." For the entirety of 2023, four in five Express Scripts members – 81% – spent less than out of pocket for their medicines, or about per month.
Nearly two-thirds of members spent even less, even as the median annual list price for a new drug reached last year, according to a , up from a year earlier. Additionally, Express Scripts' innovative programs keep costs down for the millions of commercial customers.