When it comes to how high they price their products, drug companies want the public to ignore what they spend on marketing and the tax breaks they get for direct to consumer advertising.
Instead of simply acknowledging their pricing strategies, drug companies and their lobbyists have launched a finger pointing campaign at pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
This isn't surprising and certainly not unpredictable, but ignores the basic fact: drug companies set the price of the drug. They can charge whatever they feel the market will bear. To combat these massive price hikes, PBMs are hired by employers, unions, and health plans to negotiate lower drug costs for their enrollees. They do this by negotiating with drug manufacturers and pharmacies, developing networks of pharmacies, promoting generic drugs, creating drug formularies, use of lower cost mail service, and managing high-cost specialty medications.
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