Press Releases
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2013
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Contact: David Williams
(202) 258-6527
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The Expensive Truth Behind Taxpayer-Funded
Mail Order Pharmaceuticals
ALEXANDRIA, VA – This morning the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a new report that shines a light on the costly truths behind taxpayer subsidized mail order pharmaceuticals. The study shows that, while health care and prescription coverage becomes more costly, the delivery of mail order pharmaceuticals is non-transparent and is extremely vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse. This is especially true with automatic refills that have led to millions of dollars of unwanted drugs being thrown away.
“Taxpayers are footing the bill for prescription drug programs that are rife with waste, fraud and abuse,” said David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. “Stakeholders, including taxpayers and the beneficiaries of public health programs, have an interest in knowing the truth about mail-order prescription drugs. TPA hopes this report will spark a much needed debate.”
To view the full report, click here.
This report breaks down the expanding role of PBMs, their lack of transparency as well as the many problems with mail order prescriptions that are put on virtual autopilot. TPA offers recommendations to reverse this misuse of funds and other issues that cause financial harm to taxpayers--and potentially to patients. TPA's findings show that there is an enormous amount of waste with mail order pharmaceuticals. Internal government watchdogs are even starting to question the use of mail order.
According to the report, Patrick McFarland, inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management, noted that "There’s a good chance we’re not getting a good deal…We can’t find out information such as the incentive pay, rebate pay, volume discount pay, administrative fees [of PBMs]. We can’t find that information out, because we can’t audit that; it’s not available to us now."
A recent Medicare Call Letter raises the issue of waste and added costs from automatic fills and refills by mail-order companies/PBMs.
In a survey conducted by TPA, 4,000 community pharmacists were polled and when asked if patients/former patients seem satisfied with mail order, out of 535 who answered this question, 98.3 percent responded “NO” and 1.7 percent said “YES.” In addition, when asked if the pharmacists thought that mail order creates more waste in the healthcare system, 98.1 percent responded “YES” and 1.9 percent said “NO.”
During a 2009 committee hearing, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said this about PBMs: “It’s unbelievable, the needless complexity of this whole system...it’s built to thwart oversight. It’s built to introduce as much complexity as possible. It’s a scam of major proportions.”
“Taxpayers, the ones left to pay for these bills, deserve transparency.” concludes Williams. “One way to achieve this is by implementing and holding PBMs accountable to requirements that foster an open and complete flow of information.”
To view the full report, click here.
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About Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government's effects on the economy. For more information, please visit www.protectingtaxpayers.org.
