Feb 1, 2023 | Legislation, MedBen Rx, Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM), Rx Costs, Rx prices, Rx Spending
Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) are increasingly being called to answer for their questionable business practices at multiple levels of government. On the state level, in recent months: A major PBM has settled with Iowa and at least 14 other states for...
Jan 23, 2023 | Avande, Gene therapy, Luke Burchard, MedBen Rx, Rx Costs, Rx prices, Rx Spending, Savings
In two recent articles, we touched on the growing prevalence of high-cost drugs, some with price tags in the thousands and even millions of dollars: Drugmakers are raising prices on over 350 unique drugs this month.Innovative gene therapies have emerged that cost as...
Dec 26, 2022 | MedBen Rx, Rx Costs, Rx prices, Rx Spending, Savings, Specialty Drugs
From earlier this year: “Health plans and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that manage drug costs… say specialty drugs now account for 50% or greater of the total prescription spending they manage. In some cases, employer clients are seeing specialty costs account...
Dec 22, 2022 | Lobbying, Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM), Prescription drugs, Rx Spending
A review of the biggest spenders in health care lobbying by OpenSecrets reveals that, in the leadup to the 2021-22 election cycle, 16 of the top 25 lobbyists were pharmaceutical & health product organizations (see table below). The top health care lobbyist,...
Dec 12, 2022 | Gene therapy, MedBen Rx, Prescription drugs, Rx Costs, Rx prices, Rx Spending
The Self-Insurer magazine recently examined the emergence of innovative gene therapies that carry substantial benefits… and hefty price tags. The FDA just approved a hemophilia B gene therapy that costs $3.5 million a dose, making it the...
Oct 18, 2022 | Formularies, MedBen Rx, Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM), Rx Costs, Rx Spending, Savings, White paper
Major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) use “smoke and mirrors” to make you believe they’re saving you money on prescription drugs: On the one hand, PBMs offer you administrative fee credits – fixed cost reductions that make up just a small...
