A Sick Calculation About Prescription Drugs
November 28, 2016
By Peter J. Pitts | Investor’s Business Daily
Express Scripts, the largest pharmacy benefit manager, has increased its profit per adjusted prescription 500% since 2003. (Express Scripts)
When Christie Tucker’s son Preston was diagnosed with diabetes, his insulin prescription cost just $40. Now, two years later, Christie is paying $650 for a six-week supply of the medicine. Many people reflexively blame drug companies for Christie’s dilemma. But the firms producing Preston’s insulin aren’t making more money. Insulin list prices are going up, but net prices — the money drug firms actually receive — are falling sharply. The extra cash is instead landing in the pockets of pharmacy benefit managers.
Pharmacy benefit managers act as middlemen between drug companies and patients, pharmacists and insurers. They determine which medicines are covered, and at what co-pay or co-insurance level, for 210 million Americans’ health plans. They’re abusing this role to rake in enormous profits — at the expense of patients’ health.