The Trump Administration recently announced agreements with nine major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for greater drug price transparency for patients.
"President Trump has made lowering prescription drug costs for Americans a priority, and this commitment is a step in the right direction. By making negotiated drug prices available alongside cash prices on TrumpRx, this agreement will give patients greater visibility into how much they're paying and help them find the best possible deal. That's the kind of transparency we need to boost competition, drive down costs, and deliver better value for American patients,” CMS Administrator Dr. Oz said.
The impact of drug prices on the state of Florida cannot be understated. Florida is competitive in terms of drug pricing, boasting some of the lower drug costs in the country according to some estimates. However, Florida ranks number four out of all states for the amount of money spent on prescription drugs, which equates to overall 4% of the nation’s total spend. And, recent polling shows overwhelming support for President Trump’s efforts to lower drug prices.
The CEO of Prime Therapeutics, one of the PBMs involved in the announcement with CMS, recently argued in RealClearHealth on July 31 the importance of incentives in delivering the greatest savings for prescription drug costs.
In the piece, he encouraged health plan sponsors and policymakers to question the structure of healthcare partners specifically to identify where their incentives align. As a company that is owned by independent, not-for-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans, Kamal explains how Prime’s differentiated structure allows them to provide and offer different solutions to "improve affordability, outcomes, and the patient care experience over the long term.”
Kamal's argument raises an important consideration that has often flown under the radar in the drug pricing debate, suggesting that the alignment of incentives across the healthcare system may play a significant role in determining long-term affordability.
