News from the fight to
#SaveIndependentPharmacy
New York Times The Middlemen series
Legalized Racketeering? How PBMs Skirt the Law to Rake in Billions
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) have been under scrutiny lately for their actions as middlemen in the flow of prescription drugs from manufacturers to patients. But perhaps their worst actions are buried within a maze of consolidation and paperwork. Big Insurance has consolidated the entire pharmaceutical benefit, claim, and dispensing sector to squeeze as much money out of patients as possible.
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.
These middlemen say they keep drug prices low. California lawmakers don’t buy it
Pharmacy benefit managers attempt to negotiate cost savings for insurers. California is considering new rules that would require them to pass their discounts on to consumers.
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 .