Kansas City, Kan. -- In past months, large retailers have made news with plans to reduce the cost of some generic prescriptions. Now months later, the newly-released Compensation Data 2007 – Iowa/Nebraska results have revealed prescription co-pay costs have increased since 2006 for non-formulary and formulary drugs. However, the survey of 221 organizations reported generic co-pays saw increases specifically in Indemnity and HMO plans this year.
Non-formulary drugs have risen in cost over the last year in both states. POS plans had the highest co-pay with $43.18 and were followed closely by PPO plans with $42.24, a difference of only $0.94. Since 2005, non-formulary co-pays for PPO plans have increased by 4.2 percent. A larger increase was seen in POS plans, 12.7 percent.
While co-pays for non-formulary drugs have increased in Iowa and Nebraska, formulary drugs have also seen a rise in cost across most flat dollar health plans. In 2005, the average cost of formulary drugs on PPO plans was $25.01. This number has increased by 5.1 percent over the last three years. Although PPO plans had the highest formulary cost this year, $26.28, they were followed closely by POS with $25.42.
In comparison, co-pays for generic drugs have varied by plan from $8.50 to $12.19 over the last three years. According to the newly released results, generic co-pays were $10.79 for PPO and $11.51 for HMO plans. POS had the lowest cost with $8.50, while Indemnity had the highest, $12.19.
"Despite reductions in health care coverage, the results have shown employers are still offering prescription plans as part of their health insurance," said Amy Kaminski, manager of marketing programs for Compdata Surveys, the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. "In 2007, 99 percent of organizations reported offering prescription coverage with their PPO plans. And, nearly all companies offering Indemnity, HMO and POS plans provide prescription drug coverage."
About the Survey
Compensation Data 2007 – Iowa/Nebraska contains data on 523 job titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Information was collected on more than 111,000 employees across the region. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefits information and pay practices with an effective date of March 1, 2007.
Compdata Surveys is the nation’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Data is collected annually from thousands of organizations across the country. Compdata Surveys has been providing accurate, reliable data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about the compensation and benefits surveys, contact Lane Lyons at (800) 300-9570 or llyons[at]compdatasurveys.com.
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