The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that outlined greater use of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) tools to save more than $100 billion in prescription drug costs over the next 10 years.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that outlined greater use of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) tools to save more than $100 billion in prescription drug costs over the next 10 years.
“Policymakers looking for savings solutions should consider modernizing Medicaid pharmacy,” says Charles Cote PCMA assistant vice president, Strategic Communications. “Currently, the Medicaid fee-for-service program uses fewer generic drugs and pays drugstores more than double the pharmacy fees that Medicare or private insurers pay. Over the next decade, the federal government alone could save $21 billion - without cutting benefits or payments to doctors and hospitals - by modernizing Medicaid pharmacy benefits and utilizing proven PBM tools.”
In addition to modernizing Medicaid pharmacy, the options PCMA recommended to the Joint Select Committee included maximizing generic and therapeutic substitution in Part D, expediting the approval of biogenerics, allowing Part D plans to negotiate greater discounts on all drugs, banning a tax deduction for direct-to-consumer drug advertising, encouraging chronic care pharmacy and home delivery, and banning pay-for-delay drug settlements between brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers.
Conversations with Perry and Friends: Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA
July 7th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the "Conversations with Perry and Friends" podcast. In this episode, Cohen speaks with Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA, CEO and founder of Banjo Health, an artificial intelligence company focused on prior authorization.
Listen
Dupixent Is Linked to a Higher Risk of Psoriasis in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis
July 8th 2025AD and psoriasis were once thought to be opposites in terms of immune response, with AD linked to a Th2-dominant pathway and psoriasis driven by Th17 inflammation. However, newer research has shown that these diseases can overlap in patients and may even share common pathways.
Read More
Conversations With Perry and Friends: Paul Fronstin, Ph.D.
May 9th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the Conversations with Perry and Friends podcast. In this episode, his guest is Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., director of health benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Listen
Autoimmune Diseases Almost Double Mental Health Disorder Risk
July 7th 2025The prevalence of autoimmune disease patients with a mental health disorder is almost twice the number of patients without, suggesting there is a link between inflammation and conditions such as depression, anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder.
Read More