Mail-order pharmacies help keep costs low

Small business owners often rely on discount programs offered by trade associations. Ohio Licensed Beverage Association members have relied for years on programs that collectively give them more buying power than they would have as individual businesses. That is why it is easy to see the value that pharmacy benefit managers provide for consumers. They allow individual consumers to take advantage of discounts that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them.

The Ohio Licensed Beverage Association is made up primarily of bar and restaurant owners that are responsible for the health and safety of their employees and customers.

Due to the pandemic, our members closed entirely for two months and are now operating with restricted hours and stringent guidelines. With so much going on in the world, it is important that we help each other save money and stay safe during these difficult times.

One way we’re doing that is through health care. Remote options have now become the norm, nearly overnight, with mail-order prescriptions growing by 21% over the last week of March 2019 in 2020, which was the beginning of most stay-athome orders.

Of course, the first thing on our members’ minds when it comes to prescription delivery is: what will it cost? When mail-service pharmacies partner with PBMs, they’re able to offer greater discounts and increased use of generics, leading to lower costs for patients, health insurance providers, and employers. It’s estimated that mail-service pharmacies will save consumers over $59.6 billion over 10 years from 2015 to 2024.

The pandemic has changed our health care system in innumerable ways, but the explosion in demand for mail-order prescriptions shows this service is here to stay.

It’s up to policymakers to make mail-order programs even stronger, and all health care companies to ensure they’re working together with the PBMs and mail-service pharmacies who make prescription delivery possible for patients – and health care more affordable for small businesses.

Max Sorensen Madison President of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association Bar and restaurant owner