ThanksPreston, for another great article adding clarity to a system that seems designed to obfuscate. One has to ask, "Why is this like this, and how did it get started?" Looking forward to your answers in the subsequent posts.
High prescription drug costs add to the overall cost of healthcare delivery and are a significant burden on society.
Why does CVS Caremark charge your insurer 10 to 15 times more than a reputable cash based online pharmacy for a generic antidepressant? It’s because they are part of an oligopoly of basically three PBMs that can pretty much dictate high prices to the insurers who use them. We’re talking less than $15 a month for a med that your insurance ends up paying $150 to $200 for.
As docs let’s lead and educate folks on one of the reasons their healthcare premiums are so outrageously high. Let your pt know they can often pay cash for their generic med that it may be less than their copay! Amazing, Maddening, and sad all at the same time….. And if you have the energy and inclination start shedding light on the greed rampant in healthcare including the huge discrepancies in price between independent online cash based pharmacies and the prices your PBM charges…. Start talking about it and advocating for anti-trust efforts and new or innovative ways to get what should be low cost generic meds to your pts.
3 PBM’s in the U.S. control 80+% of market, an incredible oligopoly that hammers individual patients.
ThanksPreston, for another great article adding clarity to a system that seems designed to obfuscate. One has to ask, "Why is this like this, and how did it get started?" Looking forward to your answers in the subsequent posts.
High prescription drug costs add to the overall cost of healthcare delivery and are a significant burden on society.
Why does CVS Caremark charge your insurer 10 to 15 times more than a reputable cash based online pharmacy for a generic antidepressant? It’s because they are part of an oligopoly of basically three PBMs that can pretty much dictate high prices to the insurers who use them. We’re talking less than $15 a month for a med that your insurance ends up paying $150 to $200 for.
As docs let’s lead and educate folks on one of the reasons their healthcare premiums are so outrageously high. Let your pt know they can often pay cash for their generic med that it may be less than their copay! Amazing, Maddening, and sad all at the same time….. And if you have the energy and inclination start shedding light on the greed rampant in healthcare including the huge discrepancies in price between independent online cash based pharmacies and the prices your PBM charges…. Start talking about it and advocating for anti-trust efforts and new or innovative ways to get what should be low cost generic meds to your pts.
What is American Healthcare without high cost, complexity and confusion anyway?