Discussing transparency in pharmacy benefits




Pharmacy Benefits Podcast show

Summary: In this installment of the Pharmacy Benefits Podcast, Brian Bullock and Rob Shelley of The Burchfield Group discuss the issue of transparency in the world of pharmacy benefits management. What is driving the desire for transparency? What is the definition of transparency? How can plan sponsors benefit from having transparency and knowing how their PBMs operate? Those who deal with health care and pharmacy benefits know that PBMs are making money off of more than just an administrative fee that plan sponsors or employers are paying to the vendor to administer claims. They have several revenue streams that create an environment in which the PBM is incentivized, perhaps, to do things that could be counter to interests of the plan sponsor. As health care and pharmacy benefits costs continue to rise, and press coverage of litigation against PBMs continues, the need for transparency continues to move to the forefront of the industry. Listen to this installment of the Pharmacy Benefits Podcast for insight on all these issues and more. And stayed tuned for future podcasts, which will cover issues such as the complexities in PBM contracts, an examination of the role of mail-order fulfillment in pharmacy benefit costs, and discussion of hot trends and topics in the news that related to pharmacy benefits management.