Forest Park Pharmacy@ForestParkPharm
🚨 THE PBM RACKET EXPOSED: Why a Group of Plumbers is Suing Cigna 🚨
Think your health insurance is working for you? Think again. A major lawsuit has been filed by the Plumbers’ Welfare Fund against Cigna, and it’s pulling back the curtain on one of the biggest schemes in the U.S. healthcare system: Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). Here’s the breakdown of how they’re allegedly "strangling the market" and why it matters to YOU. 👇
1️⃣ Who are the Real Customers?
In the world of PBMs (like Express Scripts, owned by Cigna), you are not the customer. You are the expense. The actual customers are the employers paying the premiums. The PBMs act as middlemen, but instead of saving money for the "Plumbers" of the world, they’re allegedly pocketing billions through shell games.
2️⃣ The "Rebate" Trap
PBMs have a unique power granted by Congress: Safe Harbor provisions. This allows them to receive "rebates" (essentially kickbacks) from drug manufacturers that would be illegal in almost any other industry.
When an employer (like a union fund) demands 100% of those rebates back to lower costs, the PBMs don't just say "okay." They pivot.
3️⃣ Enter the GPO: The "Offshore" Shell Game
To avoid passing rebates to employers, PBMs have created Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) with names like Zinc, Ascent, and Emisar. Many are based offshore. They have virtually no employees. They do virtually no work.
Instead of negotiating "rebates," they now negotiate "fees." Since these aren't technically "rebates," the PBMs claim they don’t have to share them with the employers.
4️⃣ Mind-Blowing Profitability
The result? These GPOs are some of the most profitable entities on Earth. We’re talking $50 million in profit PER EMPLOYEE. Compare that to tech giants:
Apple: $2.4M per employee
Nvidia: $3.8M per employee
PBM GPOs: $50M per employee 🤯
5️⃣ The Independent Pharmacy Struggle
Local pharmacies are forced to buy brand-name drugs at full retail price, while PBMs manipulate the backend to ensure they stay on top. This is why your local pharmacist is fighting for transparency—and why we are "firing" PBMs altogether to offer fair, direct pricing.
⚖️ The Bottom Line
The Plumbers’ lawsuit alleges Racketeering. They claim the system is designed to hide money in a labyrinth of offshore shell companies while the American worker pays the price at the pharmacy counter.
It’s time to stop the "middleman" tax on our health.
