The Employer's Guide Blog for Overseeing PBMs

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Union takes to task pharmaceutical manufacturer on a $6,000,000 per year specialty drug

Click to read the entire letter to POTUS

On Monday, November 26, 2018, the Trump administration proposed a set of strategies to lower pharmaceutical costs in Medicare Part D. As set out in the proposed rule, the plan has three major new provisions:

1) Providing Part D plans with more flexibility to manage protected classes

2) Updating existing e-prescribing systems to make patients’ costs visible when a prescription is ordered

3) Requiring pharmacy price concessions for drugs at the point of sale

On the heels of this proposal, I want to share with you a letter written by Boilermakers National Health & Welfare Fund (BNF) to POTUS which clearly illustrates why the proposed changes are necessary. I am posting the letter in its entirety with permission from BNF’s COO, Lori Jasperson.

In short, BNF has one family on Strensiq, a new specialty drug manufactured by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, with a projected price tag of $6,000,000.00 per year! Rather than take that price lying down, BNF decided to get the CEO of Alexion on the phone.

In my hood, we have a euphemism for this sort of action “pressure bursts pipes” no pun intended Lori. Read the letter and the result of those phone conversations by clicking here.

Tyrone Squires, MBA, CPBS

I am the proud founder and managing director of TransparentRx, a fiduciary-model PBM based in Las Vegas, Nevada. We help health plan sponsors reduce pharmacy spend, by as much as 50%, without cutting benefits or shifting costs to employees.

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