Astonishing drug innovations are improving the lives of patients including those living with cancer and autoimmune disorders. These innovations also expose the payment system’s fundamental flaws. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released interim report on pharmacy middlemen demonstrates that these flaws impose a high cost on patients and neighborhood pharmacies.
These pharmacy middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), only exist because the third-party payer system is excessively complex and overly bureaucratic. After all, we don’t have intermediaries telling us which vehicles we can buy and negotiating the prices on our behalf.
It’s hard to imagine consumers would allow some unknown intermediary to determine which pickup truck is their preferred vehicle or impose higher costs on them. Nor is it conceivable that dealers would allow these entities to negotiate the prices that they will receive while also (in a major conflict of interest) directly competing against them.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
The Anti-Competitive Middlemen Harming Pharmacies And Patients
Wayne Winegarden
Astonishing drug innovations are improving the lives of patients including those living with cancer and autoimmune disorders. These innovations also expose the payment system’s fundamental flaws. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released interim report on pharmacy middlemen demonstrates that these flaws impose a high cost on patients and neighborhood pharmacies.
These pharmacy middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), only exist because the third-party payer system is excessively complex and overly bureaucratic. After all, we don’t have intermediaries telling us which vehicles we can buy and negotiating the prices on our behalf.
It’s hard to imagine consumers would allow some unknown intermediary to determine which pickup truck is their preferred vehicle or impose higher costs on them. Nor is it conceivable that dealers would allow these entities to negotiate the prices that they will receive while also (in a major conflict of interest) directly competing against them.
Click to read the full article in Forbes.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.