News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
Cub in Brooklyn Park to close in November
Another Twin Cities pharmacy closes. The supermarket in the Starlite Center at 7555 W. Broadway is anticipated to shut down for good on November 16, according to a spokesperson for UNFI Retail, Cub’s parent company.
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.
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.
Chairman Comer Calls on PBM Executives to Correct Hearing Testimony
At the House Oversight Committee’s hearing, the PBM chief executives made statements that contradict the Committee’s and the Federal Trade Commission’s findings about the PBMs’ self-benefitting practices that jeopardize patient care, undermine local pharmacies, and raise prescription drug prices. The chief executives for CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and Optum Rx claimed they do not steer patients to PBM-owned pharmacies. The executives also made claims contradicting the Committee’s and FTC’s findings regarding contract negotiations, contract opt outs, and payments to pharmacies.
Podcast: PBM Problems (Part 3): Monopoly Power in Prescription Drug Markets with Luke Slindee, PharmD
We all know the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. is a problem. How did we get here and what can we do about it?
From the podcast MTVA Unscripted: Empowering the Move to Value Based Healthcare
Minnesota branch of the Harris-Walz campaign holds panel to celebrate the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act
Our owner and pharmacist John Hoeschen was a featured panelist at a prescription drug cost roundtable hosted by the Harris-Walz campaign in Rochester, MN.
Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores
In its fiscal third-quarter report, Walgreens announced its plans to close a ‘significant’ amount of stores, acknowledging only 75% of its 8,600 stores were profitable. While no specific stores were tapped for closure yet, more than 2,000 locations could face the chopping block by 2027. This just the latest sign of trouble for the struggling retail pharmacy sector as CVS and Rite Aid both announced large closures in the past year. Watch the video to learn why U.S. pharmacy chains are fighting for survival.
Health Care’s Colossus
How UnitedHealth harnesses its physician empire to squeeze profits out of patients
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.
Pharmacy benefit managers under fire in House hearing
Pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate drug prices for millions of Americans, were grilled at a congressional hearing on July 23rd.
Watch the full congressional hearing here.
Drug middlemen in the hot seat: Q&A with USC Schaeffer Center’s Erin Trish
Constantly rising prescription drug prices appear to be driven in part by a little-understood group of firms called “pharmacy benefit managers.” USC Schaeffer Center research on the topic has the attention of the FTC and Congress, which has called executives to testify next week.
FTC Releases Interim Staff Report on Prescription Drug Middlemen
Report details how prescription drug middleman profit at the expense of patients by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies
What to Do if You’re Overpaying for Prescriptions
Here’s what to know about your pharmacy benefit manager and how to find out if you are being overcharged for medications.
The first in “THE MIDDLEMEN” series of articles by reporters Rebecca Robins and Reed Abelson investigating PBMs.
The Opaque Industry Secretly Inflating Prices for Prescription Drugs
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government.
The second in “THE MIDDLEMEN” series of articles by reporters Rebecca Robins and Reed Abelson investigating PBMs.
Nearly 400 independent pharmacies have closed in Minnesota since 1996. Why?
The financial woes impacting independent pharmacies have been in the making for decades. The core issue: inadequate reimbursements from pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which manage prescription drug benefits and claims between health insurance plans and pharmacies.
PBM Practices Spark Outrage and Protests Outside Express Scripts Headquarters
High drug prices and pharmacy deserts: Protesters blame drug middlemen, demand regulation
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.