PSG’s PBM Customer Satisfaction Report provides the most in-depth picture of the PBM landscape today, leveraging perspectives taken directly from employer and health plan leaders. This research equips payers with data-driven insights to proactively improve their pharmacy benefit strategy. This year’s report examines satisfaction with PBMs, both overall and with various functions and services, and also explores payer priorities and appetite for change.
Key Takeaways
Here’s a sneak peak into a few of the key findings:
- Overall satisfaction stabilized in 2026 at 7.2 on a 10-point scale, but likelihood to renew the PBM contract without issuing a competitive RFP fell to 6.4, its lowest point in recent history
- Employers and customers of non-Big 3 PBMs continued to show higher satisfaction than health plans and customers of Big 3 PBMs across many items, but non-Big 3 PBM customers’ satisfaction declined in several areas (e.g., overall satisfaction dropped from 7.9 to 7.3)
- Sources of revenue remains the area of lowest perceived PBM transparency, with 20% of respondents describing their PBM as not at all transparent in this regard
- 69% of respondents included at least one non-Big 3 PBM in their last RFP, and 82% reported they would be at least moderately interested in including non-Big 3 PBMs if they ran a procurement today
- Over half of respondents were moderately or very interested in carving out specialty pharmacy, but 41% were not sure whether their PBM contract allows use of carve-out vendors, and only 15% were confident they could do so without restrictions or penalties
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents rated their desire for PBM industry change at 7 or higher on a 10-point scale, and most reported that current developments will have only minor to moderate impact on PBM transparency and customer satisfaction
