Beyond the Pharmacy Benefit

Written By Marsha Marrullier

Every year, I sit across the table from CFOs and HR leaders who brace themselves for one number: the premium increase. But after 35+ years doing this work, I can tell you the real opportunity isn't there — it's inside the pharmacy benefit, a part of the plan most employers leave on autopilot.

Actual client savings from a strategic prescription management program. Client identity has been withheld to protect confidentiality. One client's program has produced more than $443,000 in cumulative prescription savings — including over $56,000 year-to-date and $33,200 in just the last quarter alone, with 104 prescriptions redirected through cost-saving programs their plan already had access to. Savings like that don't happen by accident. They happen because someone asked the right questions — about specialty drug management, alternative sourcing, and manufacturer assistance programs most employers don't realize exist.

Questions worth asking yourself today:

  • When was the last time your pharmacy strategy actually got reviewed — not renewed, reviewed?

  • Are your specialty medications being managed as well as they could be?

  • Is your organization using every cost-saving resource already available to it?

  • Are you measuring pharmacy performance year-round, or only at renewal?

If you paused on any of those, that's worth a conversation.

Marsha Marrullier

Marsha C. Marrullier, REBC

Senior Employee Benefits Advisor | ARCW Leavitt Insurance Group

Marsha C. Marrullier is one of the most seasoned employee benefits strategists in the country, bringing more than 30 years of consulting, underwriting, and plan design expertise to employers across Florida, Kentucky, and the Southeast United States.

 

In 1989, Marsha founded Corporate Benefits Network, Inc., a consultancy built on the principle that employers deserve more than annual renewals and reactive cost management. Over three decades, she grew the firm into a nationally respected practice serving businesses from 50 to 5,000 employees — helping CEOs, CFOs, Controllers, and HR Directors fundamentally restructure how they purchase, manage, and leverage their employee benefits programs. Corporate Benefits Network was ultimately acquired by ARCW Leavitt Insurance Group, the 17th largest independent P&C Insurance agency in the United States, where Marsha continues her practice today.

 

Marsha's technical foundation is rare in the consulting industry. She combines deep underwriting knowledge with financial modeling expertise, allowing her to evaluate self-funded and level-funded plan structures, captive arrangements, and stop-loss programs with the precision of an actuary and the perspective of a business advisor. Her PBM analysis and pharmacy cost containment strategies have produced significant savings for clients navigating one of healthcare's most complex and opaque markets.

 

Clients retain Marsha not to sell them a product, but to solve a problem: how to reduce healthcare spend without reducing the quality of care or the value of benefits to employees. Her approach is rigorous, data-driven, and unapologetically aligned with the financial interests of the employer and the health outcomes of their workforce.

 

A Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC), Marsha is recognized throughout the industry for her integrity, her technical depth, and her ability to translate complex benefits strategy into clear, actionable financial decisions for executive leadership teams.

https://MarshaMarrullier.com
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