The future of pharmacy: What the MHE 2026 Pharmacy Survey signals for the year ahead
- Apr 16
- 1 min read
Originally published by Managed Healthcare Executive
The 2026 MHE Pharmacy Survey asked questions about most-favored nation drug pricing, PBM reform and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine policies. Respondents rated direct-to-consumer drug sales by drugmaker as the most important development in the pharmaceutical sector this year.
As the role of pharmaceuticals continues to expand across the healthcare ecosystem, stakeholders are navigating a landscape increasingly shaped by rising specialty drug costs, evolving policy pressures and ongoing scrutiny of pricing and reimbursement models. To better understand these dynamics, Managed Healthcare Executive conducted its annual Pharmacy survey, capturing perspectives from payers, pharmacy leaders, health systems, academic institutions, government and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). To help contextualize what these changes mean for the future of care delivery and cost management, we invited three experts to share their thoughts.
The findings offer a snapshot of the forces driving pharmacy today — from cost and utilization trends to policy and market shifts.
We’re pleased to see MCRA Strategic Advisor, Andy Biernat, among the select industry leaders offering perspective on the survey findings and what they signal for the year ahead.
“Declining reimbursements, spread pricing and opaque rebate structure are compressing margins and threaten independent pharmacy viability (the three largest PBMs control approximately 70% of the U.S. market). Incentives are misaligned across payers, PBMs and manufacturers. Pharmacist and technician shortages are creating rising workloads and administrative burden is driving burnout rate. Moreover, underutilization in value-based care and fragmented data sharing hinder pharmacists’ ability to coordinate care, improve outcomes, and reduce total healthcare costs.” —Andrew F. Biernat, GBDS, CWCA
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