U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was highly critical of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in a visit to Flint on Wednesday at an event coordinated with the assistance of the Michigan Pharmacists Association, "We want to get rid of the middlemen that are making it really difficult for some of the independent pharmacies right now," Becerra said. "These PBMs, pharmacy benefit managers, that are out there, that are essentially controlling the market — I say that somewhat figuratively, controlling the market and how their drugs are dispensed and are priced. We think that those middlemen who are sucking money out of the system that never actually goes to provide health care or provide medicine, really is a disservice [...]

The Federal Trade Commission today released a scathing report on how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) profit at the expense of patients by inflating drug costs and squeezing independent pharmacies. In the report, the FTC details how vertical integration and concentration has enabled the six largest PBMs to manage nearly 95% of all prescriptions filled in the United States. “The FTC’s interim report lays out how dominant pharmacy benefit managers can hike the cost of drugs — including overcharging patients for cancer drugs,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “The report also details how PBMs can squeeze independent pharmacies that many Americans — especially those in rural communities — depend on for essential care. The FTC will continue to use all [...]

–From The New York Times Americans are paying too much for prescription drugs. It is a common, longstanding complaint. And the culprits seem obvious: Drug companies. Insurers. A dysfunctional federal government. But there is another collection of powerful forces that often escape attention, because they operate in the bowels of the health care system and cloak themselves in such opacity and complexity that many people don’t even realize they exist. They are called pharmacy benefit managers. And they are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government. The three largest pharmacy benefit managers, or P.B.M.s, act as middlemen overseeing prescriptions for more than 200 million Americans. They are owned by huge health care conglomerates — CVS [...]

With the release of the second half of the 2024 legislative session calendar, MPA has made the difficult decision to cancel Pharmacy Day at the Capitol this year as the previously scheduled date (Sept. 10) is not indicated as being a session day. Though this is an unfortunate outcome, we want to make sure that our volunteers have excellent advocacy experiences and that we make the most of their precious time. Given the unpredictable nature of the fall session schedule in election years, we do not feel comfortable arranging another time in September, as legislators and their offices may also be unavailable to meet on an alternate date. Recognizing that this is the second time the event has been cancelled [...]

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) have released the ninth installment of the Pharmacy Workplace and Well-being Reporting (PWWR) trends and learnings report series. Launched in October 2021, PWWR serves as a safe space to submit both positive and negative pharmacy workplace experiences in a confidential and anonymous manner. The goal of PWWR is to tell the stories of those who submit their experiences so that the profession may begin to act on the findings and learnings. This report covers the first quarter of 2024. To date, more than 2,100 reports have been submitted to PWWR from pharmacy supervisors to pharmacy support personnel in nearly every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The learnings from [...]