Middlemen Who Save $$ On Medicines — But Maybe Not For You

Published by Kaiser Health News

Guess who’s back grabbing headlines? Pharmacy benefit managers — those companies that serve as middlemen in the prescription drug pipeline. President Donald Trump’s plan to reduce the cost of medicines targets so-called PBMs as primary culprits behind the nation’s out-of-control drug prices. At KHN, we were talking about them last week and have written about their role in the marketplace for some time.

But consumers often don’t notice or understand PBMs and how they factor into determining costs at the pharmacy counter. This KHN video, brought out from our vault, details the emergence of these multimillion-dollar corporations and the impact they have on medication costs and patients’ access to treatments.