RPB for pharmaceuticals creates a reference price for certain commonly used drugs. Plan sponsors agree to pay most of the cost for the reference drug, and members choose which drug they want prescribed. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Could the dawn of a new era is health plan drug purchasing mean the sun will soon set on the pharmaceutical benefits management (PBM) industry? New research on reference-based pricing (RBP) suggests that may be the case. And the CEO of a consulting firm that developed RBP technology says it will definitely be the case—although he’s not saying just when that will happen.

RBP will be “the disruptive force” in the employer plan pharmaceutical cost model, says David Henka, CEO of ActiveRADAR, maker of a technology that sets reference prices for commonly prescribed drugs. The technology was used by researchers to set reference prices for drugs in the study.

Recommended For You

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.