News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
Minnesota can save Medicaid dollars — if we cut out the middlemen
The Connecticut model has saved money and improved care
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Keeps Getting Scuttled, Despite Bipartisan Support
Despite bipartisan support, a last-ditch effort to pass a healthcare package that included pharmacy benefit manager reforms was scuttled last week. This marks the umpteenth time that lawmakers couldn’t cross the threshold to pass and enact changes to how PBMs do business.
326 Pharmacies Have Closed Since Elon Musk Tanked PBM Reform
The American Economic Liberties Project today released new research showing that at least 326 U.S. pharmacies have closed since Dec. 19, 2024, when Congress abandoned bipartisan, bicameral PBM reforms after Musk claimed there was “too much pork.” Later tweeting, “What is a ‘pharmacy benefit manager.’
Senate Democrats to introduce PBM changes, health provisions dropped from December spending bill
Senate Democrats on Thursday are introducing as standalone legislation a package of health policies, including changes to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry that was left out of December’s government spending bill.
Congress must take on Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform. It's a bipartisan win | Opinion
The U.S. is increasingly politically polarized, with few issues where voters and elected officials on both sides of the aisle find common ground. But over the past year, one issue has brought everyone together: a distrust of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Op-Ed: FTC Adds Fuel to the Fire for PBMs. Will Congress Deliver Real Reform?
The FTC's reports and legal actions target PBMs for inflating drug costs and restricting access, focusing on insulin and specialty generics.
Independent pharmacies fight back as PBM reform gains steam
Independent pharmacists across Virginia are rallying behind legislation to reform PBMs, arguing the change is critical for rural healthcare access.
'Knock out the middlemen' is a campaign promise Donald Trump should keep
Congressional leaders in December struck a deal to rein in PBM practices, but the bill fell apart. President Trump has pledged to “knock out the middlemen ” in health care, so the time is ripe for Congress to reconsider the issue.
Congress Can't Wait—Reform Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Deliver Lower-Cost Drugs for Patients | Opinion
As the 119th Congress convenes, policymakers have a historic opportunity to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. As members of Congress begin negotiating the continuing resolution set for March, they can make prescriptions more affordable for Americans and eliminate government waste in the American health care system by prioritizing pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform.
New AI tool counters health insurance denials decided by automated algorithms
Insurance coverage denials have risen in recent years in the US, driven in part by automated algorithms powered by AI – and some recently launched artificial intelligence tools may fight back by generating automatic appeals.
‘Rationing by inconvenience’: Health insurers count on customers not appealing denials
For many patients, the appeal process is just too much
WATCH: Arkansas Pharmacists Association, AG Tim Griffin talk pharmacy benefit manager reform
The Arkansas Pharmacists Association and Attorney General Tim Griffin held a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Thursday regarding statewide pharmacy benefit manager reform legislation.
‘Ghost network’ of US healthcare providers amounts to fraud, lawsuit says
Class action finds ‘staggering’ cases of people struggling to find mental health care coinciding with mental health crisis
Comer: Pharmacy Benefit Managers Must be Held Accountable for Role in Rising Drug Prices
Today, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) delivered opening remarks at a full committee hearing titled “The Role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Prescription Drug Markets Part III: Transparency and Accountability.” In his opening statement, Chairman Comer detailed how the House Oversight Committee has obtained over 140,000 pages of documents and communications exposing Pharmacy Benefit Managers’ (PBMs) anticompetitive policies and their role in rising drug prices.
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.