Pharmacist group tells Elon Musk's team to probe pharmacy benefit managers
- IPMD
- May 1
- 1 min read
A trade group hopes to aim the Department of Government Efficiency at its members' adversaries to "eliminate waste."
Reporter: Allison Bell
The National Community Pharmacists Association wants Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to help it fight the pharmacy benefit managers.
The pharmacist group announced Friday that it had sent a letter encouraging DOGE to search for waste, fraud and abuse at PBMs.
The National Community Pharmacists Association wants Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to help it fight the pharmacy benefit managers.
The pharmacist group announced Friday that it had sent a letter encouraging DOGE to search for waste, fraud and abuse at PBMs.
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The PBMs contend that they fight to hold down prescription drug costs for employer health plan sponsors, insurers and other payers, and they argue that pharmacists and drug manufacturers are attacking PBMs mainly because of the PBMs' success at squeezing other drug supply chain players' profit margins.
The NCPA sees things differently.
B. Douglas Hoey, the chief executive officer of the NCPA, writes in the new letter that the big PBMs have too much clout over how the drug market operates.
"They use this influence to increase their outlandish profits at the expense of taxpayers, patients and local, independently run pharmacies," Hoey writes.
In addition to auditing PBMs' interactions with Medicare, DOGE should audit PBMs' efforts to administer pharmacy benefits for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Health Benefit Plan and for Tricare, Hoey adds... CONTINUE READING
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