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Antitrust
Amid increased federal scrutiny, PBMs pivot strategy to further squeeze independent pharmacies
Yahoo! Finance Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) are employing new strategies to squeeze independent pharmacies, even as the industry...
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Mar 25, 20245 min read
Should the DOJ Break Up UnitedHealth Group?
The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly recently launched an antitrust investigation of UnitedHealth Group, which begs the question...
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Mar 21, 20246 min read
As Humira biosimilars take over the market, CVS has created a new ploy: the drug ‘rebate credit’
STAT+ News The biggest enticement that large pharmacy benefit managers offer to the employers that hire them is drug rebates — a steady...
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Mar 20, 20246 min read
New reports detail UnitedHealth's latest acquisitions under shady pretenses
HEALTH CARE un-covered by Wendell Potter Two newly published investigative reports, by the intrepid reporters at STAT News and The...
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Mar 16, 20243 min read
Big Insurance PBMs Will Shut Down Your Local Pharmacy
DC Journal | Inside Sources In his State of the Union address last week, President Biden doubled down on this commitment to decreasing...
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Mar 14, 20243 min read
Cyberattack Paralyzes the Largest U.S. Health Care Payment System
The hacking shut down the nation’s biggest health care payment system, causing financial chaos that affected a broad spectrum ranging...
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Mar 12, 20246 min read
Statement | PUTT Applauds FTC & DOJ For Passage of Mergers and Acquisitions Guidelines That Place Consumers Before Corporations
PHOENIX, AZ (December 19, 2023) - The Executive Board of Pharmacists United for Truth & Transparency (PUTT) today issued the following statement regarding the unanimous passage of new merger guidelines by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. “We applaud the FTC and DOJ for their joint undertaking to modernize American merger guidelines in a way that puts consumers first. For far too long vertical integration has been allowed to occur across a number of
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Dec 19, 20231 min read
Pharma has little visibility into the growing area of PBM fees
Lack of consistent insight into PBM service fees puts drugmakers at a disadvantage when calculating prices. MM+M | Medical Marketing &...
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Dec 13, 20234 min read
The antitrust tripwire for health insurers Cigna and Humana
Axios A deal reportedly brewing between health insurance giants Cigna and Humana will likely face antitrust challenges over their...
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Dec 6, 20232 min read
How Cigna saves millions by having its doctors reject claims without reading them
Oregon Live | Business When a stubborn pain in Nick van Terheyden’s bones would not subside, his doctor had a hunch what was wrong....
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Dec 1, 202310 min read
How the secrecy of middlemen inflates drug prices
The Hill Most Americans believe drugs cost too much and big pharma is to blame. That powerful political sentiment undergirds Medicare’s...
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Oct 25, 20234 min read
Ending Junk Fees, the Most Annoying Thing in American Commerce
Cheating is pervasive in American business, epitomized by the junk fee. Finally, FTC Chair Lina Khan and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra are...
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Oct 23, 20237 min read
PUTT Letter to Chair Khan | Support for FTC Updated Merger Guidelines
September 18, 2023 Office of the Secretary Federal Trade Commission 400 7th St., SW Washington, DC 20024 RE: Support for the Federal Trade Commission's Draft Updated Guidelines for Mergers Chairwoman Khan and Commissioners, On behalf of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT), an organization that unites pharmacists and pharmacy stakeholders dedicated to promoting honesty, clarity, and the public’s right to transparent healthcare practices, I write to express
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Sep 17, 20235 min read
Drug Benefit Firms Devise New Fees That Go to Them, Not Clients
Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate cheaper prices for employers and health plans. They also pocket drugmakers’ cash. Bloomberg Pharmacy...
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Aug 23, 20237 min read
Kickbacks Are The Root Cause Of Medical Supply Shortages
Marion Mass, MD, writes about how shadowy wealthy corporations have been collecting government sanctioned kickbacks for decades, harming...
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Aug 5, 20233 min read
PUTT Statement to the FTC on PBM Advocacy
Open Meeting July 20, 2023 Chairwoman Khan and Federal Trade Commissioners, On behalf of our nation’s independent pharmacies and their patients, we urge the FTC to vote in favor of issuing a statement cautioning pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) against relying on previous FTC advocacy materials opposing PBM transparency as part of their public relations / image management campaign. Thanks in large part to the FTC’s inquiry into how vertically-integrated PBM middlemen affect
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Jul 19, 20232 min read
Congress Voices Bipartisan Support for FTC’s Fight Against Monopoly Power
American Economic Liberties Project During the first half of an oversight hearing in the House Judiciary Committee today, a bipartisan...
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Jul 14, 20235 min read
How UHC’s acquisition of a popular Medicare Adv. algorithm sparked internal dissent over denied care
STAT News Reporters: Casey Ross and Bob Herman Frustration was boiling into open conflict within NaviHealth, a company that uses computer...
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Jul 14, 202312 min read
‘It’s beyond unethical’: Opaque conflicts of interest permeate prescription drug benefits
STAT+ Employers across the country — from big names like Boeing and UPS to local school systems — pay consulting firms to handle a...
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Jun 23, 202314 min read
State Insurance Commissioners Seek Meeting With FTC On PBMs
Inside Health Policy The group representing state insurance commissioners is seeking information from the Justice Department and Federal...
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Jun 8, 20233 min read
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