MANAGED CARE October 2003. ©MediMedia USA
The 2003 WilsonRx Survey reports that patients have identified Medco Health Solutions as the top pharmacy benefit manager for the third year in a row. Reported satisfaction was less for AdvancePCS, Aetna, Anthem, Caremark, Eckerd Health Services, Express Scripts, Prescription Solutions, RxPrime, Walgreens Health Initiatives, United Healthcare, and WellPoint Pharmacy Management. Wilson Health Information researches pharmacy, pharmacy benefit, insurance, and treatment issues.
"Members ranked the ability to get the prescribed medication they expected, out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, and the ease and ability of filling and refilling prescriptions as most important," said Jim Wilson, president of Wilson Health Information. In addition, Medco Health Solutions was highest in the categories of mail and home delivery services, as well as the ability of its customer service representatives to answer questions and solve problems for members.
The survey also asked how likely each member would be to re-enroll in his pharmacy benefit plan. Researchers used the relative difference between the highest-rated and lowest-rated PBMs to determine the difference in re-enrollment intention. The difference in re-enrollment intention was 13,450 per 100,000 members — a difference of 13.5 percent.
"Satisfaction with the prescription drug benefit is ... crucial to retaining health insurance members," said Wilson. Compared to members who were simply "satisfied," members who were "highly satisfied" with their PBM were more than twice as likely to intend to re-enroll in their health plan and more than three times as likely to recommend their pharmacy benefit plan to a friend or relative.
SOURCE: 2003 WILSONRX PHARMACY BENEFIT SATISFACTION SURVEY, © 2003 WILSON HEALTH INFORMATION LLC, NEW HOPE, PA.