Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency

PUTT Blog

PUTT's Letter to Judge Richard Leon re: Blocking the CVS-Aetna Merger:

Dear Judge Leon,

My name is Teresa Dickinson, and I am an independent pharmacy owner in Phoenix, AZ. I am also the president of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT), a coalition of more than 1,200 independent and community pharmacies across the U.S. I am writing on behalf of my organization and small business pharmacy owners everywhere to express our full opposition to the CVS-Aetna merger. We are greatly encouraged to know you are carefully considering the merger of these two excessively large corporations that together control a disproportionate share of the healthcare marketplace.

Sir, you mentioned feeling as though you are “in the dark” with regard to the merger. We promise you are, as are most Americans about the true nature of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry...

PBMs In the News

New York State Ripped Off to the Tune of $300+ Million by PBM Middlemen
Released by Pharmacists Society for the State of New York

NEW YORK – January 24, 2019 – Prescription drug middlemen may have pocketed more than $300 million from taxpayers in New York State between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018, based on a study conducted by 3 Axis Advisors. The study found a 24 percent difference between the cost of generic drugs reported by the state and the payment for generic drugs to community pharmacies, a controversial practice known as “spread pricing.” The report, which was released today is the most comprehensive ever conducted of the state’s prescription drug spending.

In 2017, New York spent an estimated $1.3 billion on generic drugs within its Medicaid managed care program – more than any other state. Within the period analyzed, middlemen known as pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) overcharged New York by as much as 39 percent on generic drugs – $5.62 per prescription on average. Generics accounted for an estimated 89 percent of the state’s Medicaid managed care prescription drug claims overall.

Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT) is a non-profit advocacy organization founded by independent pharmacists and pharmacy owners devoted to exposing the truth about the anti-competitive tactics of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) - drug benefits plan providers whose unregulated, secretive practices drive up prescription costs and annually waste hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.