Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Time For Bipartisanship; Amazon Pharmacy Will Expand Options; Why Do We Have PBMs?
Newsweek: What Better Start For Bipartisanship And Healing Than Lowering Drug Costs?
On November 20, President Donald Trump, who most don't perceive to be the most bipartisan political figure in Washington, released an executive order that could end the lame-duck gridlock currently seen in the nation's capital. The executive order will reduce Medicare drug prices by preventing middlemen (namely, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers) from pocketing cost-savings rather than passing them along to seniors. The widely praised measure will save patients up to 30-percent on their prescription costs. (Lynn Westmoreland, 11/26)
The New York Times: After 4 Years Of Trump, Medicare And Medicaid Badly Need Attention
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to “marshal the forces of science” in his administration. Undoubtedly he needs to start by bolstering the credibility of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a third health agency, central to the lives of older Americans, low-income families and the disabled, is sorely in need of his attention. Science has also been under assault at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which provides federal health insurance to more than 130 million Americans at a cost of more than $1 trillion, nearly twice the Pentagon’s budget. (Peter B. Bach, 12/1)
The Hill: Amazon Pharmacy Empowers Consumers
Amazon Pharmacy’s recently announced advance into the prescription drug distribution arena caused an immediate tumble of the stock prices of pharmacy giants and a major drug price-tracking platform. The reason is that Amazon Pharmacy sells prescription drugs by mail, offers savings for its Amazon Prime members when paying without insurance, and enables user-friendly comparative price-shopping. Unlike the purchase of cars, houses or other merchandise, comparison shopping is generally an alien concept in the purchase of prescription drugs. Third-party payment systems, whereby someone other than the customer pays for drugs, usually limit uninformed patients’ access to the cost of drugs. Highly regressive pricing discrimination known as “soaking the poor” and “the sick subsidizing the healthy” has, unfortunately, became an unspoken money-making tenet for too many health care companies. (Ge Bai, Thomas Cordeiro and Shivaram Rajgopal, 11/24)
Buffalonews.Com: What Purpose Do Pharmacy Benefit Managers Serve?
The pharmacy industry represents over $500 billion in annual revenues, the vast majority flowing through the PBMs. Just four PBMs control 80% of U.S. drug spending, and of note, all are owned by or owners of health insurance companies. Eighteen nonprofit state Blues plans established their own PBM in 2019. The for-profit Anthem Blue Cross entity in 14 states expects its new PBM to generate $800 million in first-year profit. Why let Cigna/Express Scripts keep the money? Maybe someone can describe for me the market difference between a nonprofit health insurer and a for-profit insurer. For sure, neither attempts to limit management compensation. (Ron Zoeller, 11/26)
