PCMA Response to FDA Commissioner's Comments on Brand Drugmaker Pricing & Rebates

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement today following remarks by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb:

"Manufacturers have chosen to negotiate price concessions with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) using rebates, which are calculated and paid months after a drug has been dispensed. These rebates are used by payers to reduce premiums and out-of-pocket costs for patients. Recent research finds rebates have 'lowered government costs and contributed to lower premiums for health plan enrollees.'

Getting rid of rebates would leave patients and payers, including Medicaid and Medicare, at the mercy of drug manufacturer pricing strategies. PBMs have long encouraged manufacturers to offer payers alternative ways to reduce net costs. Drugmakers set prices like any other company ? according to whatever the market will bear. Simply put, the easiest way to lower costs would be for drug companies to lower their prices."

PCMA is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs administer prescription drug plans for more than 266 million Americans who have health insurance from a variety of sponsors including: commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, union plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), state government employee plans, Medicaid plans, and others.

SOURCE Pharmaceutical Care Management Association