Nj.Com: We Need to Flip the Script on Drug Rebate System

By Jeanette Hoffman, Patients Come First New Jersey’s Executive Director

It’s no secret that determining healthcare costs is complicated and confusing. However, patients should be aware of the financial tools available to them so they are able to make the best decisions for their health and financial circumstances. Unfortunately, “middlemen” in the drug supply chain, known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers, have capitalized on an opaque system and instead work to keep the true costs of medicine hidden from consumers.

The truth is, drug manufacturers provide deep discounts and rebates, but far too often, these savings don’t get shared with the patients for whom they are intended. This is due to a lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms in these drug middlemen’s pricing systemsthat have allowed them to pocket these drug rebates. Consumers are not told how much these middlemen are receiving in rebates, and, therefore, it becomes much more difficult for patients to compare competing drug brands based on price.

At both the state and federal level, there has been a groundswell of support for bipartisan measures to crack down on drug middlemen practices and demand transparency and accountability for patients. In February, The National Association of Attorneys General sent a letter to Congressional leaders on behalf of 39 attorneys general to urge Congress to pass meaningful reform legislation. Even here in New Jersey, Gov. Murphy signed several bipartisan measures into law to establish greater oversight of PBMs.

Read the full op-ed at NJ.Com.