UnitedHealth to expand use of point-of-sale drug discounts

UnitedHealth Group is expanding its point-of-sale discounts for drugs, the insurer announced Tuesday. Beginning in 2020, all new employer plans with UnitedHealth and its pharmacy benefit manager subsidiary Optum will be required to offer all drug discounts directly to members at the pharmacy counter, the insurer said. Deals in place with current employer clients, including those set to begin Jan. 1, will be grandfathered, UnitedHealth said. The insurer first announced it would expand its use of point-of-sale discounts a year ago, and said in the announcement that it will reach 9 million members with these benefits in 2019. “Patients are seeing concrete benefits from UnitedHealthcare’s groundbreaking point-of-sale discount program, which is just one element in our commitment to help deliver better health, lower costs and a better experience,” Daniel Schumacher, president and chief operating officer of UnitedHealthcare, said in a statement.