January 15th 2025
Building on a previous report that revealed corrupt business practices among the big 3 PBMs, a second interim report finds that PBMs heightened prices for important specialty generic drugs to increase their profit margins.
Prescriptions for Extended-Release Drugs Cost Health Care System Billions
March 4th 2020Using the 2012 to 2017 Medicare Part D Drug Event and Medicaid Spending and Utilization data sets, the researchers analyzed 20 extended-release drugs with 37 Medicare formulations and 36 Medicaid formulations. The analyses were conducted from January to December 2019.
4 Pharmacy Groups Document Support in Supreme Court Case Seeking to Limit PBMs
March 3rd 2020The National Community Pharmacists Association, the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, the American Pharmacists Association, and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations took the joint action of filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case [Arkansas Attorney General Leslie] Rutledge v. the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, scheduled to be heard in Washington, DC on April 27, 2020.
Report: Increases in Drug Rebates Associated with Rise in list Prices
February 27th 2020According to a new report from the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, a $1 increase in drug rebates was associated with a $1.17 rise in list prices, hurting uninsured patients who pay list prices and insured patients who pay coinsurance and deductibles based on list prices.
Awaiting Supreme Court Ruling on Regulations, States Aim to Legislate PBMs On Their Own
February 25th 2020As the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), several states are moving forward with their own legislation to limit the influence of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in managed care organizations.
Tracking the Shift in Health Insurance from Conventional Coverage to High Deductible Plans
February 19th 2020Over the past 30 years, health plans have changed from primarily conventional health care coverage to alternatives such as health maintenance organizations and, most recently, high deductible health plans.
Proposed Medicare Changes Aim to Provide Improved Coverage, Access, Transparency
February 6th 2020These changes would lower the beneficiary cost sharing on more expensive prescription drugs, promote the use of generic medications, and allow beneficiaries to know in advance and compare their out-of-pocket payments for different prescription drugs.
Florida Pharmacy Association Report Outlines Concerns About PBM, MCO Manipulations
February 6th 2020A new report from the Florida Pharmacy Association and American Pharmacy Cooperative, Inc, alleges that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the state are favoring their own affiliated pharmacies in the Florida Medicaid Program, both by driving customers to those pharmacies and by reimbursing them at higher rates.