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Benton County to carve out pharmacy benefit; staff estimate roughly $655,000 first-year savings
Summary
County staff told commissioners they plan to switch the county's pharmacy benefit to a separate pharmacy benefit manager and expect roughly $655,000 in annual savings while adding services for employees.
Benton County staff said on July 16 they have identified and will implement a carved-out pharmacy benefit manager for the county's employee health plan, a change they expect will lower prescription costs and reduce the county's overall health claims exposure.
County staff described National Cooperative RX as the chosen pharmacy benefit manager and said the arrangement links the county to a consortium of public entities with purchasing power. Staff estimated roughly $655,000 in savings for the county in the first year after the transition and said the change will also add employee-facing services such as a pharmacy concierge that staff expect will improve access and claim management.
Why it matters: County staff said the savings will reduce required reserves for the health plan and will be considered when setting rates for fiscal year 2026'7. Staff also said the cash savings for the first year are expected to phase in over 2026 as claims on the old pharmacy benefit run out.
Details and limitations: Staff described the change as a contractual restructuring of the pharmacy portion of the county's health plan (a pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, separate from the main carrier), not a change in the health plan's overall medical carrier. Staff said the first-year savings estimate is preliminary and will be subject to typical claims-runout effects. Staff also said the new arrangement may expand formulary options so some employees will be able to access lower-cost generic alternatives previously unavailable to them.
Implementation timeline: County staff said the pharmacy carve-out will not immediately affect plan-year 2025 premium-setting; the main impact is expected in 2026 as the new PBM takes full effect. The county intends to use savings in future rate-setting and to reduce reserve pressures for the health plan.
What's next: HR and finance staff will include the pharmacy-savings estimate in next fiscal-year rate-setting discussions and report back to commissioners as the implementation schedule and claims-runout figures become available.
