SHARx Says Pharmacy Benefits Have Become a Major Spend Category With No Clear Owner

Employers, regulators, and the media have spent years documenting the same problems in the prescription drug supply chain: rising costs, opaque contracts, limited transparency, and barriers that leave employees struggling to access medications. Yet the financial pressure keeps building. Large employers now project healthcare costs will rise 9% in 2026, while pharmacy continues to grow as a larger share of that burden, according to Paul Pruitt, Chief Growth Officer of SHARx, a procurement management solution for high-cost prescription drugs.