TAMWORTH, N.H. — Rep. Chris Pappas strode into the Tri-County Cap, a nondescript office building nestled between a propane company and a masonry supply yard, with a laundry list of ideas for lowering prescription drugs. But what his constituents really wanted to know was whether anything would ever change.
Pappas was holding a town hall on prescription drug affordability, one of his first since being elected to the House of Representatives in November. Within minutes of taking the mic, Pappas demonstrated how well he’d prepared for the event: He railed against existing laws blocking Medicare from negotiating drug prices as “a giveaway to the drug industry that should never [have] happened” and implored the government to force drug makers to bargain. He called drug ads on TV “just a waste” and said they should be banned.
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These legislators just don’t understand how this drug delivery system works. Until congress passes legislation to
govern and insist upon total transparency of the PBM’s nothing will change! Actually if the PBM’s are taken out of
the equation altogether there will be 100’s of billions of dollars saved! PCMA says that PBM’s save money. This is total bullshit ! Does a PBM spend one dollar of their money to buy a drug? NO! so how are they negotiation prices. It’s the
pharmacies that buy the drugs and has to pay the wholesalers. It’s really very simple, PBM’s should get a transaction fee , like the credit card companies. Pay the pharmacies WAC plus a professional fee and billions will be saved.
Can someone who is in congress PLEASE read this !!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t believe you sir understand how the drug delivery system works either. PBMs do save their clients millions of dollars IMO. You see, most PBMs are now wholly owned by Insurance carriers and those insurance carriers contract with pharmacies and hospitals and a number of other health care providers who can sell and administer drugs. In order for Big Pharma to sell their drugs to pharmacies, those pharmacies need to be contracted with the insurance carriers. The way in which PBMs have negotiating power is by way of steering the mass of their membership bases to contracted pharmacies, thereby purchasing drugs. So, if Big Pharma wants to sell their drugs, they better negotiate solid pricing and rebates with the insurance carriers in order for the insurance carriers to place their drugs as a preferred brand on their formulary. And all that talk about rebates, as an employer, they are passed back to the client so the client can reduce cost of healthcare. PBMs get a bad rap, but they are doing more good than bad.
Speed, I must say… your not too swift !!! Yes, PBM’s are owned by insurance companies which in itself is a huge
conflict of interest.Why wouldn’t Aetna tell their members that if they use CVS pharmacy that they will pay a lower co pay?
Or that they must use CVS mail order for their maintenance medication. My friend these tactics go on every day. By the way
this is a illegal activity, it’s called steering . For your information it’s the pharmacies that contract with the PBM’s not
directly with the insurance carriers. As long as the pharmacy is enrolled in that PBM’s network that the insurance carrier
signed up for, then and only then can that pharmacy fill prescriptions for those patients.The next inaccuracy you stated
is that pharmacies have to be contracted with an insurance carrier for big pharma to sell them drugs. WTF are you talking
about? Drug manufacturers sell their drugs to a drug wholesaler,the wholesaler then sells these drugs to the pharmacy.
The fact is Speedy, pharmacies can’t buy from drug manufacturers if they wanted to ! As far as rebates go , PCMA is the organization that represents PBM’s and they came out and said that Drug Rebates are used for preferential placement on formulary. That means that if the manufacturer doesn’t pay then they are not getting on formulary. Do you know what that
sounds like to me? That sounds like extortion to me !! It’s called pay to play !! PBM’s have no transparency, how do you know that they pass the rebates back to their clients? Would a PBM tell their client how much they paid a pharmacy so the client can compare it to what they’re being charged ? I don’t know where your getting your information from but someone is telling you
a lot of bullshit!!! and your believing it. Did you know that the Attorney General’s from 31 states are looking into the shady
activity of the PBM’s because of over charging those states Medicaid and the Federal medicare part D programs?
So don’t you DARE tell me that I don’t know how the drug delivery system works! There is not one thing you said that had any fact to it. If you want to believe the PBM’s crap, you go right ahead but it’s ignorant people like you that are paying these PBM’s
and making them very,very wealthy !!
By the way I have a bridge for sale, I was wondering if you were interested in buying it ? Let me know Speedy Boy .