The city of Jacksonville could save $4.01 million annually on its prescription plan for employees, according to a report made Feb.18 to the City Council Special Committee on Duval DOGE by a consultant group.
Under the proposal from The Bailey Group, the city could save money by changing its pharmacy benefit manager from Prime Therapeutics to Express Scripts.
Based in St. Augustine, The Bailey Group is an employee benefits and consulting firm.
Mark Bailey, president of The Bailey Group, also recommended that the city take on his company for its consulting services as a middleman between the city and Express Scripts.
The report to the special committee was the first of five The Bailey Group is set to make. A representative for the group told committee members that other reports would take place over the following months.
The city paid the Bailey Group $95,000 for its analysis of the city’s health care plan. Council selected the company after it made a presentation on potential savings to the special committee.
The majority of the city’s savings would come through rebates, according to The Bailey Group’s proposal. The group’s presentation said that with Express Scripts, the city could receive $10.72 million in rebates, an increase from the $6.47 million it receives from Prime Therapeutics.
A rebate is the return of part of the purchase price by a pharmacy maker to its buyer to encourage demand for its drugs. Bailey said the rebate figures under his proposal featuring Express Scripts would be guaranteed.
Bailey presented alternative plans to the committee, but they did not offer the same savings as Express Scripts. Plans with WellDyne Specialty and Optum would save the city $3.99 million and $2.61 million, respectively, according to Bailey’s analysis.
Under the proposal, copays by city employees would not increase, Bailey said.
Council does not have the power to unilaterally change the city’s health care plan. That responsibility lies with Mayor Donna Deegan’s administration. Committee members called on the mayor’s office to take advantage of the potential savings presented by Bailey.
“My first phone call will be to (Deputy Chief Administrative Officer) Kelli O’Leary, who’s the point person on health care benefits,” Council member Ron Salem said. “To me, this is a no-brainer.”
“The discussion in today’s meeting and the Bailey Group recommendations did not appear to account for the actions already taken by the city,” the mayor’s office wrote in a statement. “While we will always welcome input, the administration has a world class consultant that has explored and implemented solutions which have already delivered more than $12 million in savings. We’re concerned that the analysis isn’t a true apples-to-apples comparison of the plans and could negatively impact the quality of care that employees currently receive.”
Bailey said that in order to change pharmacy benefit managers, the city would have to inform Florida Blue, its third-party health care administrator, with a 90-day notice before it planned to drop Prime Therapeutics. The city would then put out a request for proposals to seek a new pharmacy benefit manager, as well as a potential consultant.
The Bailey Group is part of a corporation with global reach.
The company was acquired by New York-based NFP in 2016.
NFP says it offers “specialized expertise and customized solutions in property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, life insurance, executive benefits, wealth management and retirement plan advisory.”
NFP itself was acquired by London-based Aon in 2024 in a $13.4 billion deal.
Aon is a global professional services firm that focuses on risk management with 60,000 employees in 120 countries.