Mecklenburg County, N.C. adopts new pharmacy benefits program for employee healthcare

New program from National Association of Counties (NACo) and Public Promise Insurance (PPI) will reduce prescription coverage expenditures by 28 percent in 2025

WASHINGTON – The National Association of Counties (NACo) and Public Promise Insurance (PPI), an insurance agency wholly owned by NACo, today announced that Mecklenburg County, N.C. has joined NACo’s Pharmacy Coalition through CVS Caremark. Effective January 1, 2025, CVS Caremark will administer a new employee pharmacy benefits program (PBM) expected to reduce the county’s prescription drug coverage expenditures by 28 percent in 2025 and help manage future pharmacy benefit expenses through the county’s employee health plan. 

The NACo Public Promise PBM Coalition focuses on helping counties tackle rising health plan expenses associated with pharmacy benefits. With the increasing financial pressures associated with pharmacy costs within county medical plans, NACo’s contractual structure with CVS Caremark separates itself by leveraging the combined purchasing power of the roughly 3.6 million employees that work for counties.  

“We listen to county leaders regularly sharing their struggles to maintain affordable medical benefits for their employees,” said Alex Herrera, managing director of PPI. “A huge component of that challenge is the cost of the medications for their workforce. In order to meet this challenge, we developed a strategic partnership with CVS Caremark, the largest PBM in the nation. This partnership provides counties with a unique solution in the benefits marketplace. By leveraging nationally pooled pricing agreements with carriers, Mecklenburg County and local governments across the country can benefit from strong multi-year pricing guarantees that have budget stability and avoid unexpected jumps in cost.” 

Mecklenburg County’s adoption of this PBM is expected to yield significant cost savings, to the tune of 28 percent in 2025. In subsequent years the program will yield the dual benefit of both savings and stability in expenses. 

“NACo’s PPI team evaluated our historical claims and worked closely with our benefits team to highlight the value this program can deliver,” said Dena Diorio, County Manager, Mecklenburg County, N.C. “When our workforce’s prescription benefit requirements were analyzed, they determined that this program could yield a seven-figure savings in our employee healthcare plan without any of the traditional disruption or loss of coverage that savings like that would typically require. It’s a tremendous value for our team to see that kind of savings while preserving the benefits we provide for our county workforce.” 

Said Herrera, “At the end of the day our job is to deliver solutions that help counties attract and retain talent. The employee health plan benefit plays a huge role in doing that, and our PBM program ensures counties are positioned to manage escalating financial pressures. It’s an extension of PPI’s mission to deliver value-added, cost-saving solutions to the county workforce.” 

For more information about the NACo Public Promise PBM Coalition offered through NACo PPI, as well as other benefit programs available to counties and local governments, click here.