Dear Supporters,
You won't want to miss this! Please listen to this podcast where I join Todd Eury from the Pharmacy Podcast Network and drug pricing expert Antonio Ciaccia from 3 Axis Advisors. Antonio does a great job exposing the hard truth about why many medications are being forced to mail-order pharmacies. Hint: It has very little to do with safety and a lot to do with the lack of transparency, which allows price gouging. During the discussion, we informed supporters of proposed legislation that has good intentions but is missing critical key points to saving America's safe and affordable pharmacy and medication access.
PBM stands for pharmacy benefits manager. The three largest PBMs are Express Scripts, Optum RX, and CVS Caremark. PBMs often steer patients to their own pharmacy by raising the costs patients pay if patients use a competitor's pharmacy. PBMs play a significant role in determining what medications are on the list of covered medications or the formularies, how much patients pay at the pharmacy counter, and which pharmacy patients can use.
PBMs are monopolizing the industry as they oversee competitor pharmacy reimbursements and charge competitor pharmacies fees called DIR fees that allow PBMs to take more than they initially reimbursed competitor pharmacies. It's legalized theft.
You may also listen to the podcast here.
Thank you for your support,
Loretta Boesing, Patient Advocate
Make a Donation to Support Our Advocacy