@Cernovich Why I’m looking for a doc filmmaker or investigative reporter. Healthcare middlemen using the power of the government agencies to persecute and prosecute their competition.They’ve made billions by not curing anything, killing many while eliminating competition It’s brilliant.
The pharmacy fix is so simple. That's how you know the government is in on it. All that's needed is that a PBM cannot pay a pharmacy a different price than what they charge the employer or government. Rite-aid and indys etc. would still be open.
PCMA should be banned from using money they pocketed by underpaying pharmacies & attempting to kill legislation that will provide better access for patients. Stand up for patients, @NYS_AM!
@RKellyse@kpharmd12 My nephew’s anti-rejection meds thru insurance and PBM path is $1500 a month. But $100 a month thru @costplusdrugs . The anger toward PBMs is justified. Break up the ins/PBM monopolists.
If it's hard to comprehend the hate then you need to look into what these companies are doing. Taking away choice, decreasing quality, increasing costs, serving themselves, etc. All under the guise of doing good while hiding data so that they can perpetuate the system they created. Now don't get me wrong, there are different types of PBMs. Unfortunately the ones we know that control 85% of the market fit the description above. Happy to share data if you like.
What other business would be actively persuading people to take their business elsewhere?
Imagine a small business selling a $500 product, but telling the customer to go to a larger competing company to purchase that product instead.
By purchasing the $500 product elsewhere, it would prevent the smaller company from losing money selling it to the customer.
Also, the larger competing company makes a significantly higher profit than the smaller company.
Sounds extremely dumb, right?
It happens multiple times a day owning/operating a small pharmacy.
I refuse to believe that employees at Best Buy would be telling customers to go to Walmart to buy their next TV, but maybe I’m wrong.
Imagine restaurant being told by a third party middleman:
What credentials required to be a restaurant
What customers allowed to serve
What to charge
What form of payment to accept
Getting 10-25% of payment
Having 1% of payments charged back a year after service because you sold too many cheesecakes, didn’t sell enough coffee with dessert, and were “overpaid” for the dinner rolls
And drum roll please, having to wait 30-90 days for payment
Encouraged though because @PalmerLuckey says free market can fix this problem
This is the same situation in home health and clinics. They bought up a bunch of home health agencies and clinics, paying themselves 3-4 times more while paying independent providers below cost or not letting us in the network. Basically, they are free to destroy competition and take away patient choice. @DrOzCMS@AFergusonFTC@KenPaxtonTX
THIS is the legacy of PBMs, America's WORST corporate citizens.
CVS/Caremark, ExpressScripts, Optum - this is on YOU.
All those politicians that enable this, YOU TOO are complicit.
BAN PBMs. Then investigate, indict and incarcerate.
Thank you (Josh Pirestani) @Dispensemkt
Independent pharmacists went to school to save lives, manage complex medications, catch dangerous interactions, counsel patients, and improve outcomes.
Instead, many are being forced to survive by selling candles, soda, T-shirts, gifts, lottery tickets, snacks, CBD, and whatever else keeps the lights on.
Not because they want to.
Because the system pushed them there.
PBMs and corporate middlemen squeezed reimbursement so hard that healthcare professionals are now running side hustles inside pharmacies just to stay alive.
That shouldn’t be normal.
A pharmacist shouldn’t need a “summer sale” on flip flops and beef jerky to afford dispensing life-saving medications.
Independent pharmacies should be able to survive practicing the profession they spent years studying for.
Patients lose when pharmacies are forced to become convenience stores instead of healthcare destinations.
I have to use lines of credit to cover expenses and generate revenue other than what I was trained to do as a Doctor of Pharmacy
"Importantly, #pharmacies are not closing because PBMs found a cheaper option elsewhere. In many cases, the PBM-owned option is actually more expensive overall," TPA member and independent #pharmacy owner Crystal McEntire explained to Chair @LoisKolkhorst and the Texas Senate Health & Human Services Committee today. "Pharmacies are closing because the PBM pays itself more and the independent pharmacy less, making the average appear fair on paper." #PBMReform #txlege
We are forced to deal with this every single day. Moral injury, ethical decisions, can we afford to take a loss on yet another Rx to help our patient or do we have to transfer their Rx to another pharmacy? Will we be forced to close? It's stressful & weighs on our hearts & minds