Posted by Michael Wonder on 26 Feb 2019
'Wacky' drug price system keeps costs high for patients paying for prescriptions, FDA chief says
26 February 2019 - "The sick people are helping to subsidise the healthy people. That's not how insurance is supposed to work," Gottlieb says.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Tuesday blamed high drug prices in part on the "wacky" system where pharmaceutical companies discount their medications but patients don't see those savings.
Drug makers negotiate discounts, known as rebates, with pharmacy benefit managers in order to secure a spot on their formularies. Employers typically use these rebates to lower premiums for employees across the board rather than giving them to the patients who are paying for the drugs.
