Labor Day is an opportunity to remember and commend the integrity, dignity and contributions of America’s workforce. At its core, the mission of pharmacy benefit companies is centered on supporting American workers — by enabling employers and unions in providing healthcare benefits that include access to affordable prescription drugs, PBMs are supporting their employees and members.
As we have heard directly from employers, “the bottom line is that we use the savings secured by pharmacy benefit companies to better the lives of our employees and their families.” (https://www.howpbmswork.org/)
Our companies, themselves, are made up of thousands of hard-working professionals employed at the more than 70 PBMs across the country who make it their mission every day to help advance affordable healthcare coverage for more than 275 million Americans.
I have the honor to work closely with many of the leaders of these companies and I can tell you that these are individuals of character and integrity who are in it for the right reasons — providing healthcare benefits, driving down costs, improving health outcomes, and advancing the system. In fact, everyone I have encountered across the PBM, pharmacy, and pharma ecosystem — even those who disagree on matters of policy and practice — is driven by a mission of delivering and improving healthcare.
But because of the mud thrown in the water by some special interests in the pharma industry and others who simply want to weaken our companies’ ability to drive affordability for their own financial gain, there are misunderstandings and sometimes blatant misstatements made as part of the political debate — usually aimed at an entire industry but sometimes targeting specific companies and even individuals.
The fact is that PBMs save employers $1,040 per patient per year. That’s real money — money that otherwise drug companies could pocket and use to keep drug prices high and monopolies strong.
Often dismissed as “middlemen,” these pharmacy benefit specialists are pharmacists, doctors, clinicians, negotiators, actuaries, patient support professionals and advocates — working tirelessly to ease the prescription drug cost burden for employers and their employees.
I welcome disagreement over policy, over business practice, over whether the old ways of driving affordability are still the best ways. But attacks on the character of individuals whom I know to be good, dedicated, hard-working professionals is not something that should simply be accepted as part of the “political process.” It’s not right.
On Labor Day and every day that we are discussing how to improve the healthcare system, we should commend the work of people who are pushing towards a more sustainable, equitable and affordable health care future. We can question policy and the best path forward, but should not question their integrity. We can do better to have an honest debate about how to improve the system for patients.
