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​PUTT News & Updates

PUTT’s Statement on President Trump’s Executive Orders for Drug Pricing Reform

July 27, 2020
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Following Friday’s announcement by President Trump of the signing of four new Executive Orders aimed at reducing the price of prescription drugs for Americans, Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT) is cautiously optimistic that some of these Executive Orders will result in the fulfillment of promises made by the President two years ago.

While we are most hopeful for the Executive Order “prohibit(ing) secret deals between drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit manager middlemen, ensuring patients directly benefit from available discounts at the pharmacy counter” we respectfully ask the Trump Administration to consider the following questions:
  • What protections will be ensured for patients, plan sponsors and providers should rebates and other proprietary “deals” be prohibited by law? A documented, defining characteristic of the PBM business model is to rename or reclassify rebates as “management fees” which are then collected and kept by the PBMs. These types of “trade secret” deals have contributed to record profits for PBM middlemen, including those recently announced for CVS and UnitedHealth, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn experienced by the rest of the country.
 Continue Reading

Executive Order Revives HHS Proposed Rule on Prescription Drug Rebates

The National Law Review
August 4, 2020

On July 24, 2020, President Trump signed four Executive Orders related to drug pricing that direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take a number of actions aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. These HHS actions generally are not expected to apply directly to employer-sponsored group health plans. However, the Executive Order on “Lowering Prices for Patients by Eliminating Kickbacks to Middlemen” (the Order) could have an indirect impact on such plans, or provide an indication of things to come.

The Order directs HHS to finalize a proposed rule that would (1) remove safe harbor protections for, among other things, remuneration that drug manufacturers provide to health plan sponsors, pharmacies or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in operating the Medicare Part D program and Medicaid managed care organizations, and (2) establish a new safe harbor that would permit the same entities to apply discounts at the patient’s point of sale in order to lower participant out-of-pocket costs.  Continue Reading

To read a copy of the President's Executive Order on 'Eliminating Kickbacks to Middlemen' click here

#StopPBMabuse

​The below tweets only begin to scratch the surface on the ways that PBMs continually use abusive tactics against pharmacies and their patients. The fact that these predatory practices are continuing during a national medical emergency is inexcusable.

If your pharmacy or patients are being targeted by PBM abusive tactics, please visit our Evidence Upload page to share information about the incident!
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. 

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