Latest Big Pharma Ad Campaign A Potent Reminder Anti PBM Policies Are Pharma Backed, Would Increase Pharma Profits At Expense Of Patients, Taxpayers And Employers

This week, Big Pharma announced yet another seven-figure advertising campaign targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) with false and misleading attacks. This latest Big Pharma investment in their self-serving blame game should serve as a potent reminder to lawmakers that proposals aimed at undermining the critical role PBMs play in the prescription drug supply chain are central to the Big Pharma agenda, designed to increase drug company profits at the expense of everyone else. What's worse, this newest ad campaign not only targets PBMs, but now is also targeting the health plan sponsors who voluntarily choose to hire PBMs so that they can provide health care benefits to patients, families, and consumers.

Pharma-backed proposals targeting PBMs, the only check against drug companies' pricing power, would do nothing to lower prescription drug prices. It's simple: If pharmacy benefit companies are weakened by restricting the tools used to lower drug costs, Big Pharma has more power to keep drug costs high.

For example, Big Pharma has pushed a disastrous policy called "delinking" that would hand big drug companies a more than $32 billion financial windfall in higher profits, raise health care premiums in the Medicare Part D and commercial health insurance markets, and increase costs for taxpayers by more than $10 billion.

PBMs primary role in the supply chain is to deliver savings. Experts confirm that PBMs help save patients and payers on average $1,040 per person per year, securing $148 billion in savings annually.

The Big Pharma campaign is peddling misinformation, such as who retains the majority of the prescription drug dollar. See below the breakdown of the prescription drug dollar:

The latest ad spend should serve as a stark reminder to lawmakers that targeting PBMs solely benefits Big Pharma, and advancing the pharma-backed anti-PBM agenda would increase costs for patients, families and taxpayers.

Learn how PBMs really work HERE.

###

PCMA is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients.