Let’s set the record straight: Brand name drug companies are solely responsible for setting and hiking prescription drug list prices — and game the system to extend product exclusivity on their products, undermine competition from more affordable alternatives in the market and keep prescription drug prices high.
Now, as Americans demand solutions to lower prescription drug prices, Big Pharma continues to push debunked blame game rhetoric meant to deflect attention and evade accountability for the pharmaceutical industry’s own egregious practices.
While Big Pharma deflects blame at every turn, the industry’s repeated price hikes and skyrocketing launch prices for new drugs have contributed to an unprecedented crisis of prescription drug affordability. The industry’s pandemic price hikes alone, while millions of Americans have continued to struggle to afford their medications, are staggering.
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Millions of advertising from Big Pharma attempts to place blame for high prescription drug prices on “nonmanufacturer stakeholders,” entities that include pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), health plans, hospitals, the government, pharmacies and others in the supply chain – in other words, everybody except brand name drug manufacturers.
What Do PBMs Actually Do?
PBMs’ mission is to bring down health care costs for patients. They do this in a few ways:
More than 266 million Americans are served by the PBM industry. Even Big Pharma companies, who are themselves, large employers, contract with PBMs to negotiate lower drug prices for their own employees. And before Big Pharma leaned into a years-long blame game strategy, the brand name drug industry used to praise the role of PBMs.
Learn More About The Supply Chain Myths Big Pharma is Perpetuating