Posted by Michael Wonder on 12 Jun 2018
Trump health chief renews call to end key drug pricing tactic
12 June 2018 - HHS Secretary Azar testifies before Senate on drug pricing.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told lawmakers that it may be time to eliminate the complex system of rebates that drug companies and pharmacy-benefit managers use to negotiate and set prices.
Once drugmakers set a list price for a product, pharmacy-benefit managers like CVS Health and Express Scripts negotiate rebates. The PBMs have been criticised for keeping some of the rebates for themselves instead of passing them directly to consumers to lower their out-of-pocket costs. Other critics say the spread between a drug’s list price and the PBM-negotiated one can hurt patients who don’t use insurance.
