Patients Not PBMs

I Love Chain Pharmacies youtu.be/ZAvs-LO3uX8?si… via @YouTube

First, the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) pushed opioids onto prescribers, helping fuel the opioid epidemic. Now, the PBMs are charging a higher co-pay in Medicare for the first painkiller on the market to match opioids for acute pain. Patients in pain who want a non-addictive option will have to pay more.

Democratic @SenWarren and Republican @HawleyMO have introduced a bill to break up companies that own health insurers and medical providers. "Love it," says @mcuban. "They control everything. Literally what those companies do defines the cost of healthcare in this country."

"When a few PBMs dominate a market, they hold outsized power over how much patients pay for drugs, where they can fill their prescriptions and whether their essential medications are covered." news-medical.net/news/20260210/…

Long Overdue. We need similar policy reform in Massachusetts. Congress Reins In Drug Middlemen in Effort to Lower Prescription Prices nytimes.com/2026/02/04/hea…

580,000 in Massachusetts live in ‘pharmacy deserts’ bostonglobe.com/2025/10/23/bus… via @BostonGlobe

Suffering with chronic pain made worse by the health care system plymouthindependent.org/suffering-with…

Opinion | Big Pharma, big business, and larger questions bostonglobe.com/2025/03/28/opi… via @BostonGlobe

Reforming pharmacy benefit managers is a bipartisan issue that saves taxpayers money, lower Rx co-pays, and supports small business. Virtually the only people opposed are health-insurance lobbyists, who fall back on threatening to raise premiums. Instead of standing tall, Speaker Johnson lost his nerve last-minute last year. This year, lawmakers can't let him flinch.

Opinion | AG Campbell’s suit highlights why insulin prices are so high bostonglobe.com/2025/01/24/opi… via @BostonGlobe

US FTC finds major pharmacy benefit managers inflated drug prices for $7.3 billion gain reuters.com/business/healt…

GoodRx, PBMs accused of suppressing reimbursements to independent pharmacies reuters.com/legal/litigati…

About 1 in 3 retail pharmacies have closed since 2010: study healthcaredive.com/news/1-in-3-re… via @healthcaredive

High-profile healthcare bills still in limbo on Beacon Hill bostonglobe.com/2024/12/02/met… via @BostonGlobe

F.T.C. Accuses Drug Middlemen of Inflating Insulin Prices nytimes.com/2024/09/20/hea…

A refresher on how PBM middlemen are funneling $Billions away from patients. vimeo.com/777654661

We support the FTC in their findings that PBMs add unnecessary billions to the cost of prescription drugs - hurting patients. Express Scripts sues FTC over report about pharmacy benefit managers axios.com/2024/09/17/exp…