CompletedReading · 16 min
Rebate Aggregation
How manufacturer rebates are collected, shared, and sometimes retained — and why “pass-through” is a term of art.
Rebates are invoiced after the fill, against a contract the plan sponsor rarely sees in full. Aggregation across books of business is how a PBM turns a list of brand products into a single number it can sell back to the market.
Pass-through arrangements move more of that number to the sponsor. They do not make the underlying contract simple, and they do not freeze the formulary. The Economic Report tracks both the share that moves and the share that does not.
Key takeaways
- Rebates lag the fill
- Aggregation is the product
- Pass-through is not transparency by itself