Pharmacy benefit managers (PMBs) are companies that negotiate prices for insurance companies and are paid in turn for this service. They then reimburse the pharmacies where the drug is getting sold for the dispensing fee. The difference between the payment and reimbursement fee (“the Spread) is what they bring in as profit. Currently PMBs are allowed to operate with very little transparency about their transactions. This allows them to reimburse pharmacies way less than they are being paid to make a higher profit, this forces pharmacies to raise prices in order to stay in business. This system keeps pharmaceutical prices high. 

The goal of this petition is to collect signatures from Newton North High School students fora letter that will then be sent to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts joint committee on health care financing. 
All signatures will be included in the letter, please do not sign unless you are comfortable with that

The letter is as follows:

Hello,

My name is Arlo Apgar and I'm a student at Newton North High School. I am writing on behalf of my fellow students on our concerns about the high cost of prescription drugs. We are concerned how our healthcare system is set up to benefit large corporations rather than individual patients. I personally have multiple chronic health conditions which require a lot of prescription medication to manage, and I have become concerned about the cost of them. This motivated me to learn more about drug pricing. Through my research I learned that the largest driving factor for high drug prices are Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) being able to maximize their profits at the expense of pharmacies and ultimately patients.  

I read Senate Bill 868, An Act enhancing health care market oversight and pharmaceutical access, and think it could be a start to improving this problem, specifically in increasing transparency around PBM transactions. Therefore I urge you to pass this bill and similar legislation to create and keep pharmaceuticals accessible for all Massachusetts residents.

I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and I've always been aware and proud of the amazing medical institutions we have here. MA has an amazing reputation surrounding its healthcare and it only makes sense for us to keep pushing for it to be accessible and affordable for everyone.

Sincerely,

Arlo Apgar
(Additional signatures)