The hot seat in Washington, D.C., could get hotter for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) meets next week to discuss its recent report on the drug price middle men.
Meanwhile, a consortium of pharmacy groups is demanding federal lawmakers pass reforms they say are needed to regain control of the pharmaceutical market. A PBM trade group countered that legislators need a balanced and accurate discussion, not just repetition of claims of Big Pharma, which stands to benefit if PBMs lose their price bargaining power.
As public discourse about PBMs at times rises to a clamor, the FTC announced its Aug. 1 open meeting will include a presentation on the Commission’s Interim Report on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The report was published as part of the FTC’s “ongoing study of PBMs and explores their potential impact on access and affordability of medicines and examines how increasing vertical integration and concentration may have enabled PBMs to inflate drug costs and squeeze Main Street pharmacies.” Since the report was published July 9, multiple news sources, led by The Wall Street Journal and Politico.com, have reported the FTC is preparing to sue the three largest PBMs for their role in driving up prices of medicines, including insulin.
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