News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Keeps Getting Scuttled, Despite Bipartisan Support
Despite bipartisan support, a last-ditch effort to pass a healthcare package that included pharmacy benefit manager reforms was scuttled last week. This marks the umpteenth time that lawmakers couldn’t cross the threshold to pass and enact changes to how PBMs do business.
How Affordable Is Job-Based Health Coverage for Workers?
A new study from The Commonwealth Fund confirms that employer-based health insurance isn’t protecting American workers from financial ruin if they get sick or injured.
New FTC chair gets an earful on PBM practices during pharmacy visit
Co-owner of Remington Drug Company in Remington, Va., Al Roberts, welcomed Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson for a pharmacy visit Friday to illustrate the challenges posed by pharmacy benefit managers and emphasize the significant role independent pharmacies play in their communities.
326 Pharmacies Have Closed Since Elon Musk Tanked PBM Reform
The American Economic Liberties Project today released new research showing that at least 326 U.S. pharmacies have closed since Dec. 19, 2024, when Congress abandoned bipartisan, bicameral PBM reforms after Musk claimed there was “too much pork.” Later tweeting, “What is a ‘pharmacy benefit manager.’
Walgreens is heading down a risky path
Walgreens has been attempting a financial turnaround for years, and now it says it’s found a new path to finish it. But if history is any guide, its path is more likely to lead to its eventual demise than long-term success.
There’s a pharmacy shortage in Minnesota
This past December the University of Minnesota’s College of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), released a map showing census tracts in Minnesota that have either low or limited pharmacy access.
Senate Democrats to introduce PBM changes, health provisions dropped from December spending bill
Senate Democrats on Thursday are introducing as standalone legislation a package of health policies, including changes to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry that was left out of December’s government spending bill.
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.
Walgreens’ breakup looms as $10 billion sale to go private is reportedly in the works
Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is closing in on a roughly $10 billion deal to sell itself to Sycamore Partners, a private-equity firm, which would then take Walgreens private and likely break it up, according to reports late Monday.
Trump administration cancels meeting on flu shots, fueling anti-vax concerns
The Trump administration has cancelled a meeting of scientific experts called to discuss next winter’s flu shots in a move that has underscored fears of emerging anti-vaccine polices under the new health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Congress targets PBMs to curb drug prices, end spread pricing practices
The House is renewing a push to take on pharmacy benefit managers that play an important role in the cost of prescription drugs that has been heavily scrutinized by lawmakers amid industry consolidation and rising prices.
Sen. Grassley Opens Inquiry Into UnitedHealth’s Medicare Billing Practices
The Iowa Republican’s letter to the company cites findings from a series of Wall Street Journal articles.
UnitedHealth Group Is Being Investigated by the Department of Justice
UnitedHealth Group, the largest U.S. health insurer, is once again under federal scrutiny—this time for potentially fraudulent Medicare billing practices.
FTC case against Caremark, Express Scripts, Optum Rx can move forward, judge rules
A Missouri district court judge on Tuesday said stopping the FTC’s suit against the Big Three PBMs would be “against the public’s interest.”
Chairmen Guthrie and Carter Announce Subcommittee Hearing on Pharmacy Benefit Manager Practices
“As outlined in recent reports, significant consolidation in the PBM marketplace has led to fewer options for patients and employers and less competition to keep out-of-pocket drug costs in check,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Carter.
Why community pharmacies are closing – and what to do if your neighborhood location shutters
Not long ago, Walgreens, one of the nation’s biggest pharmacy chains, announced plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years. That’s part of a larger trend that has seen nearly 7,000 pharmacy locations close since 2019, with more expected in the coming years.
UnitedHealthcare fined $3.4M by insurance regulators in North Carolina
Insurance regulators in North Carolina fined UnitedHealthcare $3.4 million after a multiyear investigation alleged dozens of instances when the insurer might have let patients wrongly face excessive bills for out-of-network health care.
Mark Cuban shakes up pharmacy pricing
Mark Cuban is best known for business and basketball, but lately, his passion has been shaking up the pharmaceutical world by showing the wholesale costs of many generic drugs and an independent pharmacist from Minnesota was among those he consulted with for wholesale pricing.
How changes to a CDC vaccine panel under Kennedy could reshape policy
As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has sweeping authority over the country's immunization policies. During confirmation hearings, he clashed with Senate Democrats over his stance on vaccines.
Medicare Drug Coverage Is Often Inadequate—Here’s Why
American healthcare spending dwarfs that of every other wealthy country, and the cost of Medicare, alone, threatens the fiscal viability of the federal government. If insurers do not try to hold down the cost of American medical care, who will?
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.