NCPA Reacts: Scathing FTC Interim Report on PBMs Warrants Further Investigations, Immediate Action

Investigation confirms massive middlemen employ tactics like steering, inflated costs, low reimbursements, & harmful contractual terms, that hurt patients and independent pharmacies.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has posted a reaction to the interim report published July 9, 2024 by the Federal Trade Commission, titled “Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs and Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies,” stating that it should leave no doubt that these massive health care conglomerates are creating unfair advantages for themselves that are driving up costs for consumers, limiting consumer choices, and killing access to quality pharmacy care.

“The report finds that PBMs wield enormous power over patients’ ability to access and afford their prescription drugs, allowing PBMs to significantly influence what drugs are available and at what price,” says the FTC’s news release. Additionally, it says, the agency “finds that PBMs hold substantial influence over independent pharmacies by imposing unfair, arbitrary, and har…