News from the fight to
#SaveIndependentPharmacy
New York Times The Middlemen series
High insulin prices spur a federal lawsuit against three pharmacy benefit managers
The federal government is suing some big pharmacy benefit managers over a system of drug rebates that regulators say has made the price of insulin soar for diabetic patients.
Senator Wiener Responds to Governor’s Veto of Pharmacy Benefit Manager Bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation to rein in anticompetitive practices pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are using to drive up prescription drug prices and forcing independent pharmacies out of business. As a result, California remains one of the only states to leave the industry, which controls virtually all prescription drugs on the market, essentially unregulated. As a result, Californians will continue to pay more for health care and will continue to have limited access to their neighborhood pharmacies.
FTC head Lina Khan fighting Big Tech, Big Pharma and Big Groceries as trustbuster
FTC Chair Lena Khan was featured on a segment of 60 Minutes this past Sunday. The youngest-ever chair of the Federal Trade Commission sat down with Lesley Stahl to discuss how corporate consolidation and anti-competitive business practices are driving up prices throughout the U.S. economy.
FTC Sues Prescription Drug Middlemen for Artificially Inflating Insulin Drug Prices
Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum, and their affiliates created a broken rebate system that inflated insulin drug prices, boosting PBM profits at the expense of vulnerable patients, the FTC alleges.
Press Conference on PBM Abuse & H.R.9096 The Pharmacists Fight Back Act
Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D - MA) and Diana Harshbarger (R - TN) hold a press conference on PBM abuses, the destruction it causes to patients and pharmacies, and how The Pharmacists Fight Back Act H.R.9096 will stop it!
Rally outside Optum HQ brings debate over pharmacy benefits managers to Twin Cities
Patients, providers, and legislators gathered to allege biggest players are ballooning drug costs while running independent pharmacies out of business; Optum denied claims.
Medicare patient wrongly sent to collections in dispute between two UnitedHealth Group entities
The Minnesota-based insurer said he owed $275. The surgery center in St. Cloud wanted another $3,300. UnitedHealth owns both and is now apologizing.
Senator Wiener’s Landmark Prescription Drug Prices Bill Heads to the Governor
The landmark piece of legislation would have enacted the nation’s strongest regulations to rein in exploitative behavior by pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBM abuse. The bill passed with bipartisan support in the state legislature only to be vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Why Drugs Are Disappearing From Your Insurance Coverage
Powerful companies are removing hundreds of medicines from insurance plans — and they’re spending millions to stop attempts at reform.
The biggest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are profiting by systematically underpaying independent drugstores, creating “pharmacy deserts” across the country.
The third in “THE MIDDLEMEN” series of articles by reporters Rebecca Robins and Reed Abelson investigating PBMs .