Welcome Again, Restat! (sponsor)

I am pleased to welcome continuing Drug Channels sponsor Restat, the largest privately-held Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM).

Restat markets a cost-plus, preferred pharmacy model to self-insured employers as Align, which they describe as "a proven way for self insured employers to reduce the cost of their pharmacy benefit." Read more in the company's description below and on their website.

You may recall Restat as the sponsor of very interesting white paper titled The Value of Alternative Pharmacy Networks and Pass-Through Pricing: An Actuarial Analysis (free download). You can read more about the paper along with a spirited debate about its conclusions in Pharmacy Profits in Preferred Networks with PBM Transparency.

Thanks very much for your support, Restat.

A MESSAGE FROM RESTAT

Restat simplifies the purchase and use of healthcare services through independent benefits management. As the largest independent PBM, Restat has no ownership ties to drug manufacturers or distribution channels, making it uniquely positioned to provide customers with unbiased benefit management solutions, such as its new cost-plus pricing model, Align.

"Healthcare costs in this country are spiraling out of control," said Restat President, David Kwasny. "The most recent Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey states that on average U.S. employers' healthcare benefit costs have risen to more than $10,000 per employee for the first year ever. We're working to "re-think" benefit management solutions to help CEOs manage these costs so they can remain competitive."

Following a one-year pilot program with Caterpillar Inc. and WalMart, Restat launched Align as a proven way for self insured employers to reduce the cost of their pharmacy benefit. Kwasny said Restat's new cost-plus pricing model, is reducing costs while changing the industry paradigm. "Align's target audience (self-insured employers) can anticipate an average savings of $22.30 per prescription for brand drugs and $5.75 per prescription for generics compared to the average cost per claim."

"We've been a client of Restat's since the early 1990s," said Caterpillar Inc Pharmacy & Informatics Manager, Todd Bisping. "Their new program is consistent with Caterpillar's goal to reduce complexity and provide transparent, cost plus prescription drug pricing which has enabled us to achieve significant savings this past year as a result."

Kwasny said Restat is uniquely qualified to provide broadened health management services, "We don't own, nor are we owned by a retail, wholesale or mail order pharmacy. This allows us to provide unbiased benefits advice based on cost and quality -- free of any conflict of interest. And because we're privately held, we have an opportunity to think longer term with our clients. We can create more strategic solutions."

Align replaces traditional pricing methodology based upon AWP (average wholesale price) with simple cost-plus fee for service pricing. Restat works with employers and a nation-wide, large pool of pharmacies to liberate the marketplace by stimulating competition for the lowest drug cost. The Align model can be tailored to the specific goals of an employer and its employee base—focusing on the concerns they see as primary—lower costs or more comprehensive benefits.

Today, more than 4,200 companies, ranging in size from the Fortune 50 to small managed care organizations rely on Restat to manage the prescription benefit for more than 12 million people nationwide. With more than 25 years of experience managing pharmacy benefits, Restat is one of the world’s most experienced benefit managers. Privately held, and owned by Dohmen, a healthcare services company in business for more than 150 years, Restat thinks longer term with its clients, creating more strategic solutions.

To learn more, visit www.restat.com or call 800.926.5858.