Feb 21 2025 39 mins 1
It’s no secret that the Pharmacy Healthcare System is broken. Join Pam and me as we dive into the ugliness of one of the main reasons the Pharmacy Profession and Independent Pharmacies are being threatened, some pharmacists say.
We invited Johnny Brooklere, Pharmacist/Owner of Brooklere Pharmacy 💊 in Birmingham, Alabama to share his expert opinion on one of the main culprits …PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers)‼️
As Brooklere points out, they have a very big fight 🥊 on their hands‼️ A fight for survival of Independent Pharmacies and for patients to have the right to choose their Pharmacy. For the past decade or so pharmacists have been dealing with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — they're accused of being unnecessary, greedy middlemen between pharmacies and health insurance companies as well as drug manufacturers.
They have allegedly been helping themselves to rebates, formulary making, unscrupulous pricing practices, inflating generic prices exorbitantly, pocketing differentials, creating one hefty reimbursement for chain stores and a so-called "wimpy" and watered down version to Independent Pharmacies for the exact same medication 💊.
PBM’s are owned by the Big Chains and independent pharmacists question how fair that is, when they say they welcome healthy competition.
According to some experts, PBM’s are limiting your choice of Pharmacies, causing ridiculously high costs, delaying your medication 💊 due to prior authorizations, and making deals with brand name manufacturers so you can’t have access to generics.
Watch 👀 our Special Podcast Episode and learn about PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers) called “Unnecessary Middle Men force Patients to pay 💰 more for Prescriptions‼️”
