Our 2026 Pharmacy Benefits Conference once again brought the spice. Employers, pharmacy experts, clinicians, consultants, health plans, manufacturers, and industry innovators gathered for a day of candid conversations about the issues generating the most heat in today's pharmacy marketplace. If you were not able to join us, don’t worry, we’ve got resources and a full recap of the sessions below!
The day began with The New Employer Playbook: Fiduciary Decisions You Can No Longer Avoid, where panelists Elaine Britt (Princeton University), Matias Arias-Duval (Colgate-Palmolive Company), Matt Wilson (CVS Caremark), and moderator Matthew Modafferi (Frier Levitt) examined the changing responsibilities facing employer plan sponsors. The session set the tone for the day, with Matias encouraging attendees to "trust but verify" when evaluating pharmacy partners and benefit strategies.
From there, the discussion shifted to the future of innovation in The Specialty Pipeline: Can Employers Afford What's Coming? Ashley Hume (Emerging Therapy Solutions), Mark Godwin (UnitedHealthcare), and moderator Eileen Pincay (Segal) explored the growing pipeline of specialty medications, gene therapies and biosimilars. While these therapies offer tremendous promise for patients, they also present significant affordability challenges for employers. The discussion focused on practical approaches for balancing access to life-changing treatments with the need for long-term financial sustainability.
As the day progressed, attendees turned their attention to a conversation around one of the most powerful tools available to employers: data. During Turning Pharmacy Data into Better Decisions: Analytics and Independent Audit, Erin Smith (Children's Hospital Association), Scott Halperin (Pharmaceutical Strategies Group), and moderator Jenna Wood (Pharmaceutical Strategies Group) demonstrated how independent analytics and auditing can help employers better understand their pharmacy spend, strengthen vendor accountability, uncover pricing discrepancies, and identify savings opportunities that traditional reporting alone may miss.
After lunch, Josh Golden (Judi Health) energized the room with Follow Your Fiduciary Dollars: Where Pharmacy Spending Creates or Destroys Value. Using his memorable concept of "PBM funny money," Josh guided attendees through the complex flow of dollars across the pharmacy supply chain. His interactive session challenged employers to look beyond traditional reporting and ask deeper questions about incentives, pricing, and value creation. For many attendees, it was a powerful reminder that understanding where money goes is essential to fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities. Click here to download his presentation!
The afternoon sessions built upon the themes of transparency, accountability and access. In One Employer's Switch to a Transparent PBM: Inside the Decision, Joanna Klein (Zoetis) and Joshua Freund (Genentech) had a candid conversation on Genentech's decision to transition from a traditional PBM model to a more transparent approach. Their discussion offered attendees a practical look at the evaluation process, contract considerations, implementation planning, and lessons learned, providing valuable insights for organizations considering a similar path.
The conference concluded with one of the most talked-about topics in benefits today: GLP-1s. During The New GLP-1 Marketplace: Employer Strategies for Direct-to-Consumer and Direct-to-Employer Care, Jon Koval (Transcarent), Carrie Bergen (Form Health), Brock Howard (Eli Lilly), and Katie Wubbenhorst (Aon) explored how manufacturers, digital health companies, and new care delivery models are reshaping access to GLP-1 therapies. The discussion highlighted the difficult decisions employers face as they seek to balance employee demand, clinical outcomes and affordability in a rapidly changing marketplace.
By the end of the day one message had emerged across every discussion: employers have tools, information, and opportunities to influence the value of their pharmacy benefits - moving from passive purchasers to informed, engaged decision-makers. The challenge is knowing which questions to ask, which data to trust, and how to navigate an increasingly complex marketplace. That's exactly why these spicy conversations matter.
Thank you to our speakers, sponsors, and attendees for helping make this year's Pharmacy Benefits Conference a tremendous success. We look forward to continuing the conversation and seeing you at future NEBGH events.
