News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
FTC case against Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum Rx can move forward, judge rules
A Missouri district court judge on Tuesday said stopping the FTC’s suit against the Big Three PBMs would be “against the public’s interest.”
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).
Pharmacies are fed up with PBMs. Here’s what reforms might be coming
Pharmacy benefit managers are under increasing scrutiny due to accusations that they are driving their smaller and more vulnerable independent counterparts out of business.
Lawmakers want Indiana to own its own pharmacy benefit manager for state plans like Medicaid
The goal of the bill is to give Indiana a “seat at the table” to play a role in negotiating rebates, pricing, distribution and dispensing fees
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.
Oklahoma takes CVS Caremark to new PBM court over alleged underpayments
Oklahoma's attorney general has accused CVS's Caremark pharmacy benefit manager unit of under-reimbursing pharmacies for prescription drugs
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.
FTC Releases Second Interim Staff Report on Prescription Drug Middlemen
Report finds PBMs charge significant markups for cancer, HIV, and other critical specialty generic drugs
Lawmakers Plot to Force Health Insurers to Sell Off Pharmacies
Bipartisan bills would make healthcare companies with pharmacy-benefit managers divest their pharmacies
Pharmacy benefit managers: What journalists need to know about the prescription drug middleman industry
It may sound counterintuitive, but firms that were created to negotiate better deals for consumers on medicines instead have sometimes driven up the costs of prescriptions — while also putting the survival of community pharmacies at risk.
‘Not medically necessary’: Inside the company helping America’s biggest health insurers deny coverage for care
Every day, patients across America crack open envelopes with bad news. Yet another health insurer has decided not to pay for a treatment that their doctor has recommended. Sometimes it’s a no for an MRI for a high school wrestler with a strained back. Sometimes for a cancer procedure that will help a grandmother with a throat tumor. Sometimes for a heart scan for a truck driver feeling short of breath.
Pa. pharmacists say they’re receiving less money for drugs dispensed to Medicaid patients
Pennsylvania DHS says it will try to compel the insurance companies to reverse course, even though violated state contracts requiring that changes to pharmacy reimbursement rates be cleared with DHS first.
Walgreens Says It Will Close 1,200 Stores
The pharmacy giant said it would close the stores over the next three years and plans to “redeploy” the majority of the workers at the closed stores.
Indiana paid $7 billion to administer prescription drug benefits in five-year period according to new report
Indiana lawmakers are calling for more oversight of “pharmacy benefit managers,” or “PBMs” for short, following a report presented to the Health Care Cost Oversight Task Force this week. According to that preliminary report, Indiana paid $7 billion to administer prescription drug benefits for Hoosiers enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program and state employee plan through FY 2017 through FY 2022.
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.
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.