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New York Times The Middlemen series
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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.
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.
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 .