OptumRx, UnitedHeathcare Expand Innovative Consumer Discounts

POS Discount System; Source: OptumRx

As pressure mounts for PBMs to clarify beneficiaries of discounts they negotiate, OptumRx is updating their innovative discount program to bring those rebates to the forefront for more consumers.

Starting January 2020, new business proposals that use UnitedHelathcare will have to incorporate point-of-sale discounts to consumers in their plan design.

Consumer point-of-sale discounts serve to prove how discounts are applied to prescribed medications and return that discount to the patient. When presenting a prescription to the pharmacy, or an order is placed for home delivery, OptumRx systems automatically identify it the drug is eligible for any discounts. If it is, the discount is applied at the point of sale (register, online checkout carts), thus lowering the consumer’s out-of-pocket costs and providing greater transparency to the consumer and pharmacist.

Trending: How to Prevent Medication Errors

The initial plans went into effect on January 1st, 2019, and UnitedHealthcare reports consumers have already experienced an average of $130 price deductions per eligible prescription. 

“Patients are seeing concrete benefits from UnitedHealthcare’s groundbreaking point-of-sale discount program, which is just one element in our commitment to help deliver better health, lower costs and a better experience,” says Daniel J. Schumacher, president and chief operating officer of UnitedHealthcare.

UnitedHeathcare analytics also demonstrate that medication adherence improves between 4% and 16% when patients are not faced with a deductible or large out-of-pocket cost.