Generic dispensing rate savings calculator: what is a higher generic rate worth?
Enter yearly prescriptions, your current and target generic dispensing rates and the cost of brand and generic scripts to estimate the savings. Built for HR and finance teams managing pharmacy spend.
Estimate savings from a higher generic rate.
The costs are your assumptions. The result updates as you type.
Your estimate
An illustration from your own assumptions. Your pharmacy benefit manager reports actual rates and costs.
What is the generic dispensing rate?
The generic dispensing rate is the share of prescriptions filled with a generic drug instead of a brand. A higher rate generally lowers cost, because generics cost far less than brands with the same active ingredient. Plans track the rate as a basic measure of pharmacy management and often compare it with a benchmark from the PBM.
How can an employer raise it?
Plan design helps: lower copays for generics, higher cost sharing for brands when a generic exists and rules that steer members to generics. Communication matters too. Employees and prescribers need to know a generic is available. Your PBM can report where brand prescriptions have generic options, which shows where the opportunity is.
Common questions
What is a good generic dispensing rate?
Many plans see rates in the 80s. Ask your PBM for a benchmark for your group.
Does a higher rate always save money?
Usually, but the savings depend on which drugs switch. Specialty and some brand-only drugs do not have generics.
Does this apply to fully insured plans?
The carrier prices pharmacy cost into the premium, so savings show up over time in renewals. The effect is more direct in self-funded plans.
Who can review our pharmacy data?
We can help read your PBM reports and compare plan design options.
Talk to us about pharmacy cost
Book a 30-minute call and we will look at your pharmacy spend, your plan design and the options that fit. Visit us at 41000 Woodward Avenue, Suite 350 East, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304, or call 248.370.8853.
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