With employers and employees going directly to the source for their specialty drug needs, pharmacy benefit managers and brokers will need to adapt quickly to a new healthcare landscape.
With the updates to Medicare after the passing of the Affordable Care Act prescription drug cost is running rampant due to the inability to negotiate price and the lack of benchmarks for stability.
The transaction sets up a showdown between Amazon and pharmacy benefit managers including Express Scripts, which recently agreed to be acquired by health insurer Cigna and CVS Health.
HHS' Alex Azar told lawmakers that it may be time to eliminate the complex system of rebates that drug companies and pharmacy-benefit managers use to negotiate and set prices.
By not prioritizing the use of pharmacy benefit management drug rebates, the administration is hurting companies, who shoulder the burden of rising costs by all stakeholders in the supply chain.
