News
from the fight to #SaveIndiePharmacy
New York Times’ The Middlemen series
UnitedHealth Hits Panic Button: Ex-CEO Hemsley Reinstalled Amid Tumult
As its stock plunges and federal investigators close in, the health care juggernaut bets on its old architect to salvage a deeply troubled empire.
CVS Health overcharged Medicaid programs, states complain in lawsuit
Four state attorneys general sued CVS Health and its pharmacies for allegedly submitting “false and fraudulent” claims to state Medicaid programs.
Bankrupt Rite Aid pursues rapid sale of pharmacy business
Bankrupt U.S. pharmacy chain Rite Aid on Wednesday received court approval to pursue a rapid-fire sale of its pharmacy business, with the company aiming to reach agreements with buyers and get a sale approved in just two weeks.
Cutting Care From Patients Saves Only a Fraction of What Cutting Insurance Abuse Would
Lawmakers say cuts to Medicaid and CHIP will save money — but patients will pay with their lives, while Big Insurance cashes in.
Access to pharmacies becoming latest health hurdle for residents of over half of US counties
Ohio State researchers found that Americans in nearly half of all counties live in what’s called a pharmacy desert, meaning drug stores are nonexistent within a ten-mile radius.
Arkansas Breaks Up Pharmacy Middlemen
Last week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the former White House press secretary) signed HB 1150, a bipartisan, groundbreaking law that makes Arkansas home to the most ambitious effort yet to rein in the harms of pharmacy benefit managers, more popularly known as PBMs.
Trump Issues Executive Order About PBM Compensation
In an effort to lower prescription drug prices, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, which includes measures to improve transparency into pharmacy benefit manager fee disclosures.
Arkansas PBM law could spur lookalike restrictions
At least half a dozen states are weighing new restrictions aimed at limiting pharmacy benefit managers' ability to influence drug prices, including prohibitions on steering business to affiliated pharmacies.
Walgreens agrees to pay up to $350M for illegally filling unlawful opioid prescriptions
Walgreens has agreed to pay up to $350 million for illegally filling unlawful opioid prescriptions and submitting false claims, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a news release Monday.
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.
State and Territory Attorneys General Call on Congress to Prohibit Pharmacy Benefit Managers from Owning or Operating Pharmacies
Today the National Association of Attorneys General, on behalf of a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass an act prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies.
“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”
Blue Cross Louisiana OK’d mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay a hospital’s full bills. For some claims, it paid nothing. This investigation has led to actors and advocates to bring stories like this one to life, which can be viewed here
FTC pauses lawsuit against PBMs over insulin pricing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pressing pause on its legal fight with major pharmacy benefit managers.
Proposed Legislation Could Address Pharmacy Closures, Save Medicaid $2 Billion Over 10 Years
Kaite Krell, MPH, discusses the critical role of independent pharmacies and how proposed legislation could address challenges with PBMs.
Texas AG investigating insurance company accused of spying on lawmakers, journalists, other Texans
Superior HealthPlan’s CEO, whom lawmakers grilled about the company’s alleged hiring of private investigators, was reportedly fired after the inquiry was announced.
Filling a prescription in the Seattle area? Put on comfortable shoes and be ready to wait
Seattle’s downtown, which has seen six Bartell Drugs stores close since 2020, is one of the most noticeable areas in the Seattle area where easy access to a pharmacy has deteriorated. Plagued by broader industry woes, several drugstore chains, including Rite Aid, owner of Bartell Drugs, CVS and Walgreens closed stores across the nation and in Washington.
1 in 7 Americans in 'pharmacy deserts,' report says
More than 1,300 pharmacies have closed over the last five years
Rochester Pharmacist breaks down reasons for Minnesota's growing pharmacy deserts
The Minnesota Pharmacists Association (MPHA) held a legislative day in St. Paul, on March 5, according to Philip Hommerding, owner of Hunt's Silver Lake Drug Store, part of the purpose was to call attention to the state's growing pharmacy deserts.
UnitedHealth’s Optum to address pricing, access challenges for prescription drugs
The changes come as pharmacy benefit managers face scrutiny for how they require doctors and patients to seek its approval for certain treatments and drugs.
Minnesota can save Medicaid dollars — if we cut out the middlemen
The Connecticut model has saved money and improved care
Drugmakers including Purdue Pharma paid pharmacy benefit managers not to restrict painkiller prescriptions, a New York Times investigation found.