Florida Daily
October 30, 2019
With Americans continuing to be impacted by the spiraling costs of health care, some neighborhood pharmacists across Florida have an idea to do something about the growing problem.
Pharmacists across Florida have banded together to push for reforms to add more transparency to Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) which, the pharmacists insist, are driving up costs.
PBMs originally came into existence to be a helpful “middle man” between pharmaceutical companies, insurers and local pharmacies. They were initially designed to control costs and negotiate savings which would allow pharmacists to spend more time advising customers, making deliveries when needed and working out payment arrangements for struggling patients.
But in recent years, the PBM process has grown into a full-blown, multi-billion-dollar industry.
As certain PBMs got bigger, they began gobbling up the smaller ones. Currently, a handful of PBMs control the overwhelming majority of the market nationwide. Many of these companies are also affiliated with their own pharmacy chains, including CVS and Walgreens.
Neighborhood pharmacies complain that they are getting drowned out by their larger rivals, leaving consumers have fewer choices and higher prices. Continue Reading
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