Employers are gravitating toward “transparent” pharmacy benefit managers this year, according to a survey from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.
The 2025 “Pulse of the Purchaser” survey collated responses from purchasers and employers across the country.
With nearly two-thirds of purchasers either considering changing their PBMs in the coming years or having already done so recently, transparency is becoming more of a factor in the decision.
While contracts with transparent PBMs more than doubled in the past year, the share of employers relying on CVS Caremark, Express Scripts — an arm of Evernorth Health Services — and OptumRx dropped from 72% to 61% since 2024.
Employers also reported lower average annual premium costs with transparent PBMs.
