Today’s PCMA PBM “Policy Forum”: A Parallel Universe of Propaganda and Puffery

DATE: May 1, 2017

New Kaiser Health Tracking Poll Finds More Bad News for Nation’s Beleaguered PBMs as Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, Independents Want Action on Drug Pricing

Washington, DC — With the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) today holding its 2017 “PBM Policy Forum” at the Newseum, the Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) said the gathering and its discussion is yet another attempt to divert attention away from the fact that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are part of the problem when it comes to skyrocketing pharmaceutical prices.

“It’s ironic PCMA is holding its forum at the Newseum as all of the ‘news’ being reported about PBMs is overwhelmingly negative,” said Alan G. Rosenbloom, President and CEO of the SCPC. “The PCMA ‘policy forum’ is a parallel universe of PBM propaganda and puffery that flies in the face of reality as a growing bipartisan coalition of lawmakers demand more accountable, transparent PBM drug pricing practices.”

Rosenbloom said health insurer Anthem’s likely dumping of its PBM, Express Scripts — due to overcharging — represents the “biggest news surrounding dishonest, disingenuous, deceptive PBM pricing practices thus far in 2017” and predicted that by year end, “the story will be just the tip of the iceberg.”

A new Kaiser Health tracking poll finds lowering the cost of prescription drugs continues to rise as an important public concern: Six in ten Americans say lowering the cost of prescription drugs should be a ‘top priority’ for President Trump and Congress – including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.”

Rosenbloom said Congress’s growing scrutiny of PBM pricing practices will continue to escalate as the public becomes increasingly angry about the lack of PBM transparency and “the brazen manner in which the middlemen cling to the fiction they are benevolent, pro-consumer actors in the drug pricing debate.”

Concluded Rosenbloom: “PBMs are attempting to perpetuate a secretive, opaque drug pricing game that may have worked to their advantage ten years ago — when there was less attention focused on their surreptitious activities. But that is not sustainable nor realistic in 2017 as the entirety of the drug pricing chain is rightly subject to vastly more consumer and governmental accountability.”

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The SCPC is the national association for independent LTC pharmacies. Our member pharmacies provide care and services to patients in LTC facilities in across the country occupying approximately 675,000 beds across the country.  Visit us at www.seniorcarepharmacies.org to learn more.