WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Commenting on health insurer Anthem's announcement
that it will launch its own "in house" pharmacy benefit manager
(PBM) to be managed by CVS Health Corp., the Senior Care Pharmacy
Coalition (SCPC) said the development represents a perpetuation of
the oligopolistic, anti-consumer shell game.
"By their very design and intent, these relationships are a
shell game premised upon keeping consumer, lawmaker and regulator
alike in the dark about virtually every aspect of the mysterious
'negotiations' and 'rebates' we hear about -- but never see," said
Alan G. Rosenbloom, President of
SCPC, the only federal advocacy organization devoted exclusively to
the interests of the nation's LTC pharmacies and the patients they
serve.
Anthem sued its existing PBM, Express Scripts, for overcharging
on prescription drugs over several years, charging that Express
Scripts was getting an "obscene profit windfall" from overcharging
the insurer.
At Tuesday's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)
Committee regarding the prescription drug distribution chain and
its impact on patient costs, Chairman Lamar
Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Lisa
Murkowski (R-AK) expressed bewilderment about pricing
determinations, systemic complexity and the ongoing mystery
surrounding rebates.
It was noted at the hearing that sometimes the payments drug
manufacturers make to PBMs are passed on to insurers, and sometimes
insurers pass on to patients the savings from those rebates -- but
that the amount of those payments are kept secret.
"I have yet to figure out where [the money] goes," Alexander
said. For her part, Murkowski said, "Even those of us that are
listening to you as supposed experts, it's all Greek, and we're not
doing anything to help the consumer." (STAT 10/17/17)
Rosenbloom thanked Alexander and the HELP Committee for
continuing its examination of drug pricing, and expressed hope
there will be a third hearing on this critical health and public
policy issue.
"Absent thoughtful, systematic, sustained evaluation of the
complex strands that inextricably link the drug supply chain and
PBM pricing methodologies, policymakers cannot accurately identify
the causes of problems and concerns, and will be unable to craft
real and lasting solutions," Rosenbloom continued.
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SOURCE Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition