Mercer and Xevant Announce Strategic Plan Optimization Solution for Employer-Sponsored Pharmacy Benefit Plans

Mercer, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and career, and Xevant, a leader in pharmacy benefit management (PBM) performance optimization solutions, announce that the two firms have entered into an agreement to provide employers with an optimization solution using key analytical data to offer timely and actionable insights into the cost and performance of their pharmacy benefit plans.

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The importance of this solution is driven by deep concern among employers regarding the skyrocketing costs of their prescription drug plans, particularly specialty drugs. In fact, 68% of employers recently rated "focused action to manage cost for specialty drugs" as one of their top three health benefit strategies for the next five years. *

The Mercer/Xevant pharmacy plan optimization solution addresses this strategic priority by bringing together the power of Xevant's X3 real-time analytics platform and Mercer's pharmacy consulting specialists, actuaries and financial consultants. This unique combination offers employers key analytics through:

• Real-time insights: Daily claims data feeds from more than 20 PBMs and carriers
• Comprehensive data: More than 2500 standard reports on key analytics
• Flexibility: Employer-specific dashboards to track key metrics and cost drivers

Potential benefits and positive outcomes for employers who select this solution can include:

• Quicker identification of hyper-inflationary drugs, such as "compounds"
• Greater efficiency in managing pharmacy spend via alerts based on employer-specific metrics
• Better PBM governance enabled by real-time updates on plan performance versus contractual guarantees
• Stronger member and provider management by identifying potentially inappropriate opioid utilization and/or prescribing behavior
• Deeper view into various cost-saving plan options including formularies, networks and utilization management programs

"Until now, employers have not had the right data, at the right time, with the right analysis and insights to forecast trends and drive meaningful changes within their pharmacy benefit offerings," said David Dross, Mercer's Managed Pharmacy Specialty Practice Leader. "We believe our collaboration with Xevant is a true innovation for sponsors who want better foresight and outcomes from their Rx spend."

"Today's employers are faced with the significant challenge of navigating the dynamic pharmacy benefits environment without the knowledge and automated tools that can drive meaningful, lasting change," said Brandon Newman, Co-founder and CEO of Xevant. "By combining Mercer's pharmacy insights and market leadership with Xevant's performance optimization software, plan sponsors can efficiently achieve new levels of cost savings and improved member health."

To learn more about the Mercer/Xevant pharmacy plan optimization solution, please visit www.mercer.com or www.xevant.com.

*Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, 2018. Figures cited represent employers with 500 or more employees.

About Mercer

Mercer delivers advice and technology-driven solutions that help organizations meet the health, wealth and career needs of a changing workforce. Mercer's more than 25,000 employees are based in 44 countries and the firm operates in over 130 countries. Mercer is a business of Marsh & McLennan Companies MMC, the world's leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people with 76,000 colleagues and annualized revenue approaching $17 billion. Through its market-leading businesses including Marsh, Guy Carpenter and Oliver Wyman, Marsh & McLennan helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @Mercer.

About Xevant

Xevant provides improved client performance and experiences by converting data into immediate insight and savings opportunities. Xevant's highly customized approach automates client performance optimization across the spectrum of pharmacy benefits. This results in the highest levels of cost reduction, member health, and administrative efficiency without the required use of labor-intensive analytic solutions. Xevant's automated, end-to-end client performance technology is an industry game-changer. Learn more about Xevant by visiting www.xevant.com. Learn about #TeamXevant on social media. Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

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