PBMs: How profit-driven middlemen are hurting American patients and pharmacies
NCL is sounding the alarm about the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the healthcare landscape. PBMs continue to put their profits first, driving an increase in out-of-pocket healthcare costs for American consumers—inflating drug costs and squeezing out Main Street pharmacies. While NCL was encouraged by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) report on PBMs and sees the recent legal action by the FTC against three of the biggest PBMs as a step in the right direction, we firmly believe there is more work to be done.
Currently, the biggest winners in the prescription medication market are the insurance companies that own PBMs, not the consumers. PBMs also keep lower-cost generics off Medicare formularies and thus increase prices for consumers and small businesses. This corporate greed must stop!
NCL encourages Congress to enact vital policy changes to ensure employers and patients have access to affordable and accessible healthcare services at pharmacies. While the FTC’s report is a promising first step, the agency must delve deeper into the troubling trends of healthcare corporatization and vertical integration that allow PBMs to profit at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies. We believe that the biggest winners in healthcare should be the consumers–not PBMs. NCL is committed to advocating for meaningful reform that prioritizes patient care and ensures affordable access to medications for everyone.
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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
