When GoodRx announced plans to integrate with Surescripts, both companies touted the deal as a victory for price transparency. However, the pharmacist is not sure.
A group of pharmacists opposed the deal, saying that it does not reflect the true cost of the drug and may lead patients away from independent pharmacies. They asked Surescripts’ board of directors to revoke it in a letter dated August 13.
“The transaction was touted as a step towards transparency; in fact, the coupon program was purchased and paid through the PBM-based opaque pricing model that the transaction claims to subvert,” they wrote in an article. Copy of letter Obtained by MedCity News and includes 67-page signatures from independent pharmacies and pharmacists who work for hospitals and retail chains.
Their concerns stem from Surescripts’ extensive influence and how drug coupon programs such as GoodRx structure their business.
Surescripts operates the technology to transfer electronic prescriptions from the doctor’s office to the pharmacy, and dominates this market.Its transaction with GoodRx will Let prescribers check GoodRx’s negotiated drug prices, But only for patients who are not insured or who cannot obtain price information for insured patients.
Independent pharmacies worry that this process will lead patients to leave their stores and switch to larger chains, which are more often on the GoodRx platform.
Kyle McCormick, founder of Blueberry Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, wrote: “Whenever they make this deal, we don’t like it, but we can’t say that we will use another (electronic prescription) platform. .”letter.
GoodRx negotiates with the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) to provide coupon discounts. They reduced the inflated “usual, customary and reasonable” rates charged to patients, which vary from place to place. After the medicine is dispensed, PBM charges the pharmacy a fee, and GoodRx charges a portion of the fee.Through this process, it can make Last year it was 550.7 million U.S. dollars.
But more and more people believe that prices shouldn’t be based on these negotiations at all. For example, the average retail price of the leukemia drug imatinib is approximately US$9,600. With GoodRx, depending on the pharmacy, the price will drop to between US$136 and US$2,000. But McCormick said the actual wholesale cost of acquiring the drug was only $49.
He said: “We did not turn to a transparent model to let us know the cost of the drug or how much it should actually cost, but a long-term lack of transparency.” “The crossed-out figure is completely fabricated.”
It is true that if there were no discounts, most uninsured patients would have to pay exorbitant cash prices.
GoodRx wrote in an email statement to MedCity News: “We are proud of our Surescripts program and believe that this program will help many people afford their prescriptions and will help doctors, pharmacists and other prescribers Do our best for patients.”
Some companies are pushing for a different drug pricing method, such as the national average drug purchase cost using CMS. A startup, CapitalRx, is using this method to provide discount cards, charging a $1 fee instead of part of the PBM.
“You will see legislative changes in drug pricing. CapitalRx President Matt Gibbs said it is just a matter of time, not what I think. “Literally, anything will be better than what we use today. Is better. “
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