AHA!!! We all know that BCBS Is the biggest individual Health Care Insurance donor to congress over the past 20 years, right? opensecrets.org/federal-lobbyi…
2. How did BCBS get so rich? They were originals. @BCBSAssociation the insurance co with the LONGEST In house owned #PBM: Prime theraputics
PBM are the insurers cash cows. 💵🐄 @Cigna revenues tripled when they bought Express Scripps. 60% of @CVSHealth revenues from PBM
In 2005, BCBS's PBM Prime they got the mail order pharmacy thing going
probably the first. 💵💵💵
Cashcow getting hungry, eh?
Moooo! 🐄
2008: Viola! Birth of the specialty pharmacy for BCBS's #PBM, prime. Let's get richer, shall we? 💵💵 @jack can I have a blue check for exposing this stuff?
How do you get a blue check anyways?
Can we invent a purple check?
So this is why I asked this question in 2017, when I knew much less. But I thought following the $$ was the right thing to do.
FOLLOW THE HEALTH CARE MONEY! 💵💵💵 inquirer.com/philly/blogs/h…@PhillyInquirer
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.@ChrisMurphyCT, we can't help Denise ( and many other patients) with unaffordable meds without #PBM reform. PBM are at the center of drug finances...Pic from Millman
a 🧵 milliman.com/en/insight/pri…
Some of those 'rebates' in the pic above are really kickbacks that were legalized by our government. First for middlemen #GPO ( GPO in first pic on this thread) and then later for PBM
Great read here in @econliberties
Pic shows short letter to @WSJ 2 🧵economicliberties.us/press-release/…
There is almost no transparency on where the #PBM kickbacks that they call 'rebates' are going. @CVSHealth revealed at @SenateHELP hearing last year that the kickbacks are going to a GPO that PBM created. One of these GPO is in Switzerland. 🧵 3
Pic from this @realclearpolicy article realclearhealth.com/articles/2023/…
a 🧵 In prep 4 today's 1pm @SenateHELP hearing on making #insulin affordable.
On graph: list price is roughly = net price (what pharma collects) + "rebates"/fees collected by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (#PBM) .
3. If @SenateDems and @SenateGOP and @USCongress and @POTUS want to remedy the cost of Insulin and other drugs, hopefully they won't make the same mistake they did with the Inflation reduction act, "USA will NEVER solve the drug pricing problem without PBM reform – and instead… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
"the kind of misinformation that leads to more school closings as well as burdensome mask and quarantine mandates." Thank you, @DrJBhattacharya 1/4 🧵 wsj.com/articles/the-w…
🧵Re baby formula #shortages: @PressSec us pediatricians cannot conjure up baby formula.
We will do whatever we can to help our patients but you and @POTUS need to own the colossal supply chain mess that now threatens babies.
🧵As a mom who breast fed all 3 for a year each, I can tell you that both establishing nursing and sustaining it is NOT easy. That first week was HARDER THAN INTERNSHIP.
We must give grace to those who cannot breastfeed, yet try to encourage it…
🧵As a pediatrician, I think there are too many advantages to breastfeeding. We must stop right now and promote and encourage our new moms to nurse when possible!
Mr. Scott of @pcmanet, the lobby group for #PBM has been called one of The Hill newspaper’s “Top Association Lobbyists” each year from 2015 to 2020.
Yesterday he spoke at the @FTC hearing on how mergers are affecting healthcare. Let's dissect what this lobbyist said 🧵1/6....
Scott of @pcmanet told @FTC that there were over 70 #PBM.
True, but from DrugChannels, we can see that SIX PBM control 95% of the prescription drug claims in the US
THAT is one WAAAAAY conslidated market! 🧵2/6
The lobbyist Scott of @pcmanet told @linakhanFTC that #PBM were the only players in the market that saved money on prescription drugs.
Whatever you are "doing " to "save 💵"
it ain't working.
Meanwhile #PBM and associated co are at the top of the fortune 500. 🤔 🧵3/6