Yesterday, December 16th, a number of consumer groups and unions submitted a letter in support of H.R. 5304, a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and lower drug prices. They urged that the proposal be included in the end of year spending bills and passed...

Yesterday, on Thursday, December 12th, the House of Representatives passed HR 3, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's bill to lower prescription drug prices by giving Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies.

The bill passed by 230 to 192 along with party lines, with almos...

This morning, the Bipartisan Policy Center held a forum called "Examining Pharmaceutical Patent Practices & Their Impact on Drug Prices." Over a two hour session, administrative officials and experts examined patents, exploitation of loopholes by drug companies, and ho...

Recently the Massachusetts Senate, spurred by rising drug prices and federal inaction, passed a sweeping bill to reduce prescription drug costs. The vote was 40-0. Among other things, the bill requires the Massachusetts Division of Insurance to license and regulate pha...

Last Friday, November 15th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its approval of the merger of the two drug companies Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene, on the condition that they sell Celgene's drug Otelza, which is used to treat psoriasis, a chronic skin disea...

This year many state legislatures have enacted laws to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and require increased transparency and accountability from them. However, the PBMs have fought back in court. The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), the tra...

In a new position paper, the American College of Physicians (a national organization with over 154,000 members) called for sweeping reforms concerning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and how they impact drug prices.

The paper included three recommendations: 1) increas...

The Kaiser Family Foundation just released their 2019 Employer Health Benefits Survey, and it contains disturbing news. It concludes that new employer benefit designs are increasingly exposing consumers to the list prices of their drugs, and that they are paying much h...