The 2008 survey respondents are 223 U.S. employers representing
15,137,168 members. The sample was developed from
PBMI’s proprietary database of employers sponsoring drug
benefit programs. Respondents are asked to complete the
survey about one drug plan that their organization offers.
The plan selected may include active employees only, retirees
only, or a combination of active employees and retirees.
If the plan does not fall under one of these categories, it is
considered “other” and not included in the data analysis.*
- Table 3 shows the respondent pool is primarily divided
among plans that cover active employees and plans that
cover active employees and retirees. Only 1.3% of employers
described a retiree-only drug plan in their survey
responses.
- The average group size for the 2008 survey respondents
is nearly twice as large as 2007 respondents based on
number of members as shown in Table 5. This year there
are 30 employers who did not report the size of their
groups, contrasting sharply with only three unreported
groups in 2007.
- Employers self reported type of industry segment in Figure 1 and geographic location in Figure 2. The representation
of industry segments is similar to 2007. This
year’s dataset has more employers in the West and fewer
in the South than 2007.
- HR/Benefits Staff hold plan design responsibility for
53.8% of the responding employers. Only 16% of
employers rely on a consultant for plan design as
illustrated in Table 7.
- Seventy percent of survey responders spend 25% or less
of their job responsibilities on drug benefits. Only 8.1%
of the respondents spend 76% to 100% of their time on
drug benefits.
*Two workers’ compensation plans were excluded. |