City leaders say the change would not raise copays or member contributions and could take effect in next year’s budget if approved by the mayor’s office.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval Special Committee on DOGE says the City of Jacksonville could save an estimated $4.2 million annually by changing the prescription drug plan offered to city employees.
The findings were presented during a committee meeting reviewing the city’s employee health benefits. The committee hired The Bailey Group to conduct an overview of potential inefficiencies in the current plan.
Mark Bailey, president of The Bailey Group, said the goal was to identify cost-saving measures without shifting the burden to employees.
“We felt like our role here was to come in and do things like this. What can we do to impact costs without it impacting your associates, because it would be easy for us to come in and say, ‘Oh, well, you raise deductibles and you can raise copays.’ Anybody can do that.” Bailey said. “This is a transition that we actually think would be an improvement, particularly when you look at programs like Save On that can reduce costs for members who are paying 100 dollars per prescription right now.
Under the proposal, employee copays and member contributions would remain the same. However, officials acknowledged a small number of employees could have prescriptions excluded under the new plan and may need to switch medications. Representatives said programs would be available to assist those employees.
“Other than those few patients that may have excluded drugs that may have to change, and there are programs into place, as Mr. Bailey said, to try to work with those employees in those particular situations, it’s almost seamless,” said City Council member Ron Salem, who chairs the committee.
The recommended prescription benefits manager is Express Scripts. The company has recently faced scrutiny after the Federal Trade Commission sued it over allegations of inflating the cost of certain prescription drugs, including insulin. Following that settlement, Express Scripts agreed to ensure members’ out-of-pocket expenses would be based on a drug’s net cost.
During the meeting, some council members voiced strong support for moving quickly.
Council Member Matt Carlucci said the city “can’t save money quick enough.”
Council member Chris Miller said he is interested in examining not only changes to the current plan but also why the city has left significant rebate dollars “on the table every year.”
Chairman Salem said he plans to coordinate with the mayor’s office to move the proposal forward.
“These dollars are sitting there. The longer we wait, the less savings we have,” Salem said.
The committee must now formally present its findings to the mayor’s office. If adopted, city leaders say the savings could take effect in the next fiscal year’s budget.