PBM Reform

How the CBO Became PBMs’ Sidekick If you think the biggest obstacle to fixing PBMs is their billion-dollar lobby, bless your heart, because you’re only half right. The other half? A government spreadsheet in D.C. quietly strangling real reform before it ever has a chance. Meet the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The unelected, unaccountable scorekeeper that can take a bipartisan, common-sense bill and file it under “too expensive” with the click of a keystroke. Officially,

NoLa.com Author: Monique Whitney, PUTT Executive Director Recently guest essayist Rob Maness suggested banning pharmacy benefit managers...

PUTTbulletin July 2025 The politics of pharmacy and PBM reform have reached an inflection point. The era of incrementalism, such as it existed, is over. We’ve demonstrated that we’re hardworking team players, capable of being gracious and accepting when our part of PBM reform policy ends up on the cutting room floor because, well, “politics”. We’ve seen the movie making its second, third or fifth run through the halls of Congress this year and we know how it ends. So to you,

Oklahoma decision viewed as affirming broad ERISA preemption Employers increasingly challenging PBM laws across the country Bloomberg Law...

Author: Deborah Keaveny, PUTT President, MNindys Founder In June of 2020 the Minnesota Independent Pharmacists ( MNIndys ) was created as...

PUTTbulletin June 2025 As we reach the midpoint of 2025, we’re looking back with pride and joy on a remarkable 6 months of grassroots advocacy, legislative victories (some of them outright miraculous, Virginia) and our collective work to protect independent pharmacies and patient access to care. Join us celebrating these wins - your wins - with the certainty that we’re only gaining momentum, and more wins are on the way: One Big Beautiful Win: Eliminating Mandatory NADAC Repo

Ohio Capital Journal Reporter: Marty Schladen Owners of small pharmacies — many themselves members of local chambers of commerce — are...

The Federalist Author: Drew Johnson Why do we have a medical system in this country where too many people can’t get the treatment that...

The New York Times Author: Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Behind inflated prescription prices, complicated insurance plans and...

Axios Reporter: Maya Goldman Drug price middlemen are going to court to fight a first-in-the-nation effort to police their ownership of...

May 27, 2025 Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 Re: Anticompetitive Practices by Vertically Integrated Health Insurers and Pharmacy Benefit Managers Dear Members of the Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force: I am writing on behalf of the independent pharmacy members of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT) to bring to your attention the urgent need for antitrust enforcem

Independent pharmacies are small businesses. That shouldn’t be a controversial statement. We employ local residents, serve vulnerable...

PUTTbulletin May 2025 Something is seriously wrong with military prescription drug pricing, and it's time we talked about it. In the coming weeks PUTT will launch what we hope to be a provocative campaign focused on some troubling - but largely unacknowledged - questions: why are our military families and taxpayers paying dramatically inflated prices for generic prescription drugs through Tricare's PBM, Express Scripts? And what are we doing about it? It’s a Problem We Can’t

May 30, 2025 The Honorable Joseph Lombardo Governor of Nevada 101 N. Carson Street Carson City, NV 89701 Dear Governor Lombardo, I am reaching out to you today on behalf of Nevada’s independent pharmacies and their patients to respectfully urge you to veto Assembly Bill 259, which would implement prescription drug price controls similar to those established under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act . Community pharmacists are deepl

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, suggested Congress could once again move to overhaul PBMs’ controversial business practices after it passes...

Let’s cut the nonsense: pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) aren’t just shady middlemen—they’re operating a masterclass in anti-competitive...

PUTTbulletin April 2025 As you read this, the PUTT Board is in Washington D.C. taking part in NCPA’s annual Congressional Fly In. We’re excited to join our fellow members, NCPA friends and other partners in PBM reform for 2 days of face-to-face meetings with federal policy makers about the need for PBM reform NOW. On Monday, April 28, PUTT Board member Brandi Chane participated in the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Panel PBMs: The Drug Middlemen Who Increase Drug Pric

The worst marriage in the history of healthcare is the unholy union of PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) and formulary design. This carefree couple has fostered the creation of inconceivably high priced brand drugs in the U.S. market for decades, and we need an immediate annulment. Plan formularies are more influenced by quid pro quo payments between PBMs and drugmakers than clinical guidelines. Thanks to a safe harbor exemption from the Anti-Kickback Statute, PBMs can legall

The state officials claim that ownership limits competition Consumer Affairs Reporter: Mark Huffman Key takeaways State attorneys general...

Talking Points & Analysis of President Donald J. Trump Executive Order: LOWERING DRUG PRICES BY ONCE AGAIN PUTTING AMERICANS FIRST ...