Paul H. Flowers Jr.Senior Business Consultant, Superior Insurance Advisors, LLC · 2024 Hot 100 honoree. 2026 Health Value Award. Fiduciary process documented. 30 to 40 percent health-plan savings for 100 to 2,000 employee CFOs. 3x number one bestseller.

The Spread — The Hidden Markup Inside Your Company's Pharmacy Costs

26 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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Paul H. Flowers Jr. explains how uncontracted vendors capture a hidden markup, called the spread, between what pharmacies are paid and what employer plans are billed. He urges employers to demand visibility into that spread in writing and run cost calculations at paulflowersjr.com.

There's a vendor inside your company's health plan that you never hired. It sits between the pharmacy and your plan. The pharmacy gets paid one price, your plan gets billed another. The gap is called the spread, and the middleman keeps it on every refill your people pick up. Employers who cut pharmacy costs without touching coverage all did one thing first: they made the spread visible. Ask to see it in writing. I'm Paul H. Flowers Jr. Run your numbers at paulflowersjr.com.