The Delaware State Employee Benefits Committee, which is charged with negotiating and contracting benefits for the state’s employees and retirees, this month issued a report on one of Delaware’s largest expenditures, pharmacy benefits.
The report, ordered through a Senate Joint Resolution in 2025, says significant barriers exist to negotiating cheaper costs on drugs in the state’s health plans.
It suggests a general lack of willingness from key players to go outside industry norms for pricing transparency or discounts offered to state plans, despite using, “as many strategies as possible” suggested in the resolution to negotiate for lower costs.
But State Sen. Ray Seigfried (D-Arden) is skeptical of the SEBC report findings, which says it will be difficult to contract a pharmacy benefit manager that agrees to added data sharing requirements on drug costs and audits.
Seigfried understands SEBC had a short amount of time to explore the negotiating tactics outlined in his resolution. But its report lacks information on how to move forward.
“What I got from the report is a reflection of an unwillingness to look beyond the current process,” he said. “And it fails to address the hidden costs driving prescription drugs spending for Delaware taxpayers, and that's why I called their report a blueprint for bureaucratic inertia.”
Seigfried said he'll be working on legislation to push the issue for the upcoming legislative session.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers are companies that act as the go-between to manage prescription drug plan benefits for insurers and employers.
The SEBC is in the process of negotiating to bring in a new PBM. The report proposed extending the state's current contract with CVS Caremark for another year into 2027 because none of the 10 PBMs that bid to manage the state’s pharmacy benefits met all 25 of its requirements.
