PBM Reform Podcast
Pharmacy benefit managers were created as middlemen to reduce administrative costs for insurers, validate a patient’s eligibility, administer plan benefits, and negotiate costs between pharmacies and health plans. Over time, PBMs have been allowed to operate virtually unchecked. A lack of transparency in PBM practices has led several states to implement licensure/registration, fair pharmacy audit, or generic drug pricing legislation to try to level the playing field for pharmacies and patients. by the NCPA https://www.ncpanet.org/advocacy/state-advocacy/pbm-reform This Podcast is focusing on discussions & interviews about PBM Reform & those ”Business of Pharmacy” professionals leading this much needed reform.
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Episodes
Monday Feb 10, 2020
Monday Feb 10, 2020
IN DATA WE TRUST
Special Guest: ANTONIO CIACCIA with 3 Axis Advisors.
Born and raised in pharmacy, Antonio has been crawling around pharmacies his entire life. After three years as a pharmacy technician and two years of pre-pharmacy curriculum, Antonio diverted course, graduating from The Ohio State University in 2007 with dual degrees in communications and political science before moving into the world of association management.
Thinking that pharmacy would be in his rear-view mirror forever, he ended up making his way back to his pharmacy home, heading up government affairs for the Ohio Pharmacists Association, a trade organization with a strong track record of advocating for drug pricing transparency. After years of studying the pharmacy marketplace, Antonio became increasingly perplexed and concerned as he saw drug costs spiking while payouts to pharmacies were declining. Knowing something was being lost somewhere in the middle of an ever-growing transaction, Antonio has spent years working to crack the drug pricing code and pull the rug out from what he believes is one of the most dysfunctional marketplaces in the world.
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Thursday Jan 16, 2020
Thursday Jan 16, 2020
On Part Three of the PBM Reform Podcast Series we talk with Mary Ellen S. Jones a PSEA UniServ Representative and Anthony J. Loiacono / Chief Executive Officer of Capital Rx, a pass-thru Pharmacy Benefit Management company.
PSEA is 181,000 members strong – a community of education professionals who make a difference in the lives of Pennsylvania’s students every day.
PSEA members are teachers, education support professionals, higher education staff, nurses in health care facilities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. PSEA’s strength comes not only from our members, but from our beliefs, our values, and our passion. Every time we speak up for what we believe, we harness the power of collective action.
Anthony J. Loiacono / AJ is a successful entrepreneur, with over 20 years of experience in pharmacy benefits, finance, and software development. As the CEO of Capital Rx, his mission is to change the way pharmacy benefits are priced and administrated in the US. Prior to Capital Rx, AJ was a co-founder of Truveris, where he served for eight years as CEO, Chief Innovation Officer, and Board Member, leading the company to record growth (Deloitte FAST 500 and Crain’s Fast50). Prior to Truveris, AJ co-founded SMS Partners, a joint venture with Realogy (RLGY), and in 2010 exited the partnership with a buyout. In his first venture, AJ started Victrix, a supply chain consultancy, and successfully sold the company to Chrysalis Solutions in 2007.
https://www.cap-rx.com/company#leadership-team
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Monday Dec 23, 2019
Monday Dec 23, 2019
Part Two of the PBM Reform Podcast Series features an interview with Monique Whitney, the Excutive Director of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT).
Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT) is a non-profit advocacy organization founded by independent pharmacists and pharmacy owners devoted to exposing the truth about the anti-competitive tactics of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). Known to most Americans as their "prescription drug benefit plan" provider, PBMs are in reality a $300 billion industry - giant corporate middlemen driving up the cost of medications with huge mark ups and commissions on every prescription covered under their "benefits plan."
Working with local and national traditional and digital media that includes The New York Times, USA Today, CBS News, Bloomberg, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Business Insider, PUTT seeks to educate patients, lawmakers, health plan sponsors and the public about the deeply negative effects of the PBM industry on U.S. healthcare and the escalating price of prescription medications.
PUTT serves as an industry watchdog, collecting evidence of PBM fraudulent practices and abuse and using this information to educate and inform consumers, taxpayers, employers and health plan sponsors of the truth about the unregulated, unmonitored PBM industry. Through PUTT's efforts, PBMs have begun to experience greater public awareness and scrutiny of their actions and come under fire for questionable practices including the use of gag clauses at the pharmacy counter, gross over-billing of health plans (called "spread pricing"), forcing patients to use PBM-owned pharmacies instead of allowing patients to choose their own pharmacies and interjecting unnecessary bureaucratic practices such as prior authorizations between patients and their doctors in the matter of prescription refills.
Monique Whitney
Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency
Monique@TruthRx.org
m. (505) 480-4150
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Monday Dec 16, 2019
Monday Dec 16, 2019
Anne CassityVice President, Federal and State Government Affairs at National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) joins Todd Eury, CEO of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, on part one of the new series:
PBM Reform Podcast Series
Pharmacy benefit managers were created as middlemen to reduce administrative costs for insurers, validate a patient’s eligibility, administer plan benefits, and negotiate costs between pharmacies and health plans. Over time, PBMs have been allowed to operate virtually unchecked. A lack of transparency in PBM practices has led several states to implement licensure/registration, fair pharmacy audit, or generic drug pricing legislation to try to level the playing field for pharmacies and patients.
NCPA: https://www.ncpanet.org/advocacy/state-advocacy/pbm-reform
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