News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
Parents sue over son's asthma death days after inhaler price soared without warning
Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, had insurance but couldn’t afford to refill his asthma inhaler after the cost jumped from $70 to more than $500.
Our stance on Trump’s drug pricing executive order
The National Community Pharmacists Association released their stance on Trump’s “Most Favorable Pricing” Executive Order, signed on Monday, May 12th.
10 Thoughts on Trump’s Drug-Pricing Executive Order
Late yesterday, Donald Trump dropped a grab-bag executive order on drug prices with something for everyone … and something for everyone to hate. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the order, and here’s the accompanying fact sheet.
Alarm Bells are Ringing: Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Will Fail Without Changes
If CMS doesn’t reconsider its mandate, which forces independent pharmacies to go deep into a hole and lose money, many of them will close.
Drug Costs and Their Impact on Care: Insights from Medicare Patients and Providers
Prescription drug costs are a barrier to care for many patients, but especially so for the nine of 10 Medicare beneficiaries who report taking prescription drugs regularly. In fact, 14 percent of beneficiaries age 65 or older say they skip taking or sometimes do not even fill their prescriptions because of the expense.
Healthcare insurance companies blamed for 'pharmacy deserts' in Minnesota
Pharmacy benefit managers are being blamed for "pharmacy deserts" being left across Minnesota as inflating drug costs squeeze out small-town pharmacies. This local news story features our friend and fellow pharmacy advocate, Deborah Keaveny, RPh of Keaveny Drug (Winsted, MN)!
Same Drug, 2,200 Different Prices
Middlemen negotiate widely different prices for prescriptions, depending on your Medicare insurance plan
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter Delivers Remarks on the Platformization of Health care
“In 2010, the big insurers promoted the narrative that single payer was a threat to Americans. Nearly 15 years later, we may well be accelerating the march to single payer, just not the kind anyone imagined in 2010, or wants today.
The moment for this discussion is now and the timing is urgent.” —AAG Jonathan Kanter
High insulin prices spur a federal lawsuit against three pharmacy benefit managers
The federal government is suing some big pharmacy benefit managers over a system of drug rebates that regulators say has made the price of insulin soar for diabetic patients.
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.
Senator Wiener Responds to Governor’s Veto of Pharmacy Benefit Manager Bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation to rein in anticompetitive practices pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are using to drive up prescription drug prices and forcing independent pharmacies out of business. As a result, California remains one of the only states to leave the industry, which controls virtually all prescription drugs on the market, essentially unregulated. As a result, Californians will continue to pay more for health care and will continue to have limited access to their neighborhood pharmacies.
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.
Bruised by Government Report, Cigna's Pharmacy Business Sues the Federal Trade Commission
Whistleblower, former Cigna VP, and reformed insurance propagandist Wendell Potter takes you behind the scenes to provide a glimpse into the reasoning behind the lawsuit his former company filed this week against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
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.
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.
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
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.