From 2015 to 2019, MedBen’s municipality block saw just a 2.7% trend on total claim costs. At the 14th Annual Municipality Roundtable Webinar on April 30, Vice President of Sales & Marketing Brian Fargus shared that municipality medical costs trended at 3.4% during the five-year period, while pharmacy costs decreased 0.2%.Why was trend so low?
- Plan Design: 53% of MedBen municipality clients now use a reference-based pricing (RBP) plan, with over a quarter of groups switching from PPOs to RBP in 2019 and 2020. By doing so, in 2019 RBP groups paid 9.9% less in claim costs compared to non-RBP groups.
- Pharmacy: 94% of municipality clients take advantage of lower drug pricing available through MedBen Rx. Compared to non-MedBen Rx groups in MedBen’s overall block, these clients paid 11.8% less on prescription purchases in 2019.
- Wellness: 56% of municipality clients offer MedBen WellLiving programs to their plan members. Though the “family doctor first” approach, in 2019 WellLiving groups paid 9.4% less in claim costs compared to non-WellLiving groups.
MedBen will next be presenting its 4th Annual Employer Roundtable Webinar on Thursday, May 14, 9:00-10:30 EDT. Invitations have been e-mailed to MedBen private sector clients and brokers – if you didn’t receive one or need us to re-send it, please contact MedBen Executive Assistant Sally Wood at (800) 423-3151, ext. 339 or emailing swood@medben.com.