In just a few months' time, Rite Aid and Fruth Pharmacies have been wiped off the map @martyschladen.bsky.social ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/26/p...

The waves of community pharmacy closures keep coming; this time it’s my good friends over at Fruth Pharmacy. More neighborhoods of need in Ohio and West Virginia turning into pharmacy deserts. Another reminder that you get what you pay for. wchstv.com/news/local/f...

I will give you an 80% discount off the price of your cup of coffee. Sounds great, right? Let's sign a contract where all your coffee purchases go through me, and I will honor that 80% discount every time. BTW, I also set the price of that coffee.

PBMs say they want low list prices for drugs. Their new affiliated private label drug companies now have the power to do it themselves. Instead, the generic prices are on average 33 times higher than the lowest in the market. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Everyone says they want low drug prices until actual low drug prices show up. (except patients) @costplusdrugs.com @mcuban.bsky.social @alexosh.bsky.social @drugchannels.bsky.social @pharmalot.bsky.social www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

You don’t say?

From Big 3 to just zero: Rite Aid is officially reduced to ashes as pharmacy market attrition rolls on @martyschladen.bsky.social ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/13/a...

“Soaking high drug prices as a mechanism to lower premiums is neither a wise nor a sustainable practice.” Acknowledge @repauchincloss.bsky.social 🎙️ www.realpharma.co/where-policy...

When Amazon makes moves in pharmacy – no matter how seemingly small – you should always be thinking about the long game @nyeungs.bsky.social endpoints.news/whats-behind...

Good news for fans of generic drug affordability 👇 www.wsj.com/health/pharm...

“American businesses should not be left to subsidize the lack of transparency, accountability and fair competition in the health care industry.” www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...

The price is the price. Unless it’s the other price. Generic drug prices are going up and down – depending on your perspective. www.46brooklyn.com/research/are...

“The immediate stock reaction across the group affirms our view this is more optics than bite.” Good rundown on yesterday’s Trump/Pfizer rendezvous from @elaineywchen.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/w...

If you are someone who wants more drug manufacturing in the U.S., this may please you. If you are someone who wants lower brand drug prices in the U.S., this may tariffy you. www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Look out below! www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Yeah, that’ll fix it. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

There are 281 brand-name drugs with new list prices. Here are the details.

Another state attorney general digs into drug pricing bloat and dysfunction 👇 www.oag.state.va.us/media-center...

As a long-time fan of his show, it was awesome to join Clay Farris for a discussion about American drug pricing dysfunction. mostlymedicaid.com/medicaid-con...

When it rains, it pours.

“The current system is riddled with barriers to innovation, shielded by exclusivity protections and mired in anticompetitive practices — which help ensure high drug prices persist.” @blueshieldca.bsky.social www.healthcaredive.com/news/drug-in...

Potential positives and negatives aside, pharm-to-table is a band-aid on a mortal wound. @aciaccia.bsky.social www.ajmc.com/view/direct-...

Behold the power of whistleblowers: $289.9 million set to come back to US government and certified G, Sarah Behnke

The policy ground is shifting on the 340B program, which means the system's current winners and losers have their eyes on how proposed changes could impact their financial realities

So essentially, the early yield of the push to bring US drug prices in line with other nations is just exporting American drug pricing distortions.

“We’re trying to disrupt an industry that needs disrupted.” Testify, Mark. @gianteagle.bsky.social @mcuban.bsky.social @costplusdrugs.com triblive.com/news/health-...

Had a great discussion with @matthewstoller.bsky.social and @ddayen.bsky.social about PBMs, pharmacies, manufacturers, Medicaid, and how misguided public policies have yielded bloated drug prices and an over-reliance on conflicted intermediaries www.organizedmoney.fm/p/the-pbm-hi...

Decades after retreating from their former marriages, PBMs are blending their DNA with drug companies once again, this time through private labelling. Here's what it means for the costs of medicines. Our latest:

It's a tough time for pharmacies, but for some, it's not all doom and gloom. If you are a PBM-affiliated pharmacy or are benefitting from 340B spreads, you are well positioned to weather the current financial storm. And if you are benefitting from both, enjoy the long ride.

Strongest signs yet that Delta Airlines could be getting into the drug business fortune.com/2025/07/16/d...

In the least surprising news ever, drugmaker financial ties with telehealth companies yields more prescriptions. Hey senators, what do you think drugmaker financial ties with formulary design yields? @davidovalle.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

“By the end of Trump’s term, the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain could look very different, with a greater share of innovative drug production happening on American soil. That would be a rare win-win—for the White House and for the industry.” - @davidwainer.bsky.social www.wsj.com/health/pharm...

“While the complexities of the prescription drug industry might seem ‘wonky’ to most Kentuckians, they do understand when the cost of their prescriptions increase and local pharmacies close.”

"The pharmacy’s name is more than a brand — it’s a statement." Well-timed pre-Independence Day piece on Freedom Pharmacy's shedding of PBM contracts and mission to be "the best combination of service, professionalism, and price possible in community pharmacy." 🇺🇸

Last week, I visited my old stomping grounds to discuss our journey into the drug pricing abyss to help uncover $245 million in hidden markups in the Ohio Medicaid managed care program. Thanks to the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee for the invite. ohiochannel.org/video/ohio-j...

Congressional PBM reform cosplay rolls on.

Good write-up on last week’s Transparency Rx panel on the trajectory of PBM reform.

This is one pharmacy closure worth celebrating! Big congrats to Nate Hux and the team at Freedom Pharmacy on ending their PBM contracts and closing their legacy Pickerington Pharmacy business in favor of a transparent, cost-plus model! This is the way.

True, transparent cost-plus pricing is the enemy of a system built on bogus, inflated drug prices. Politics aside, @mcuban.bsky.social shows how disruption can be just as simple as putting all your cards on the table.

Drug pricing is complicated. My home state of Ohio learned that the hard way. Here’s a great breakdown of the state’s efforts to rid the system of its shortcomings and try to improve taxpayer ROI: healthcareuncovered.substack.com/p/case-study...

"I think the question is whether this is actually going to come to fruition … We'll have to see to what extent they make good on their promise, because right now, it is a pledge." - @mirandayaver.bsky.social www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Years of controversies have put PBMs in the hot seat with policymakers, but federal inaction (whether good or bad) has resulted in a mixed bag of state policies that often fail to provide structural reforms that yield the intended policy outcomes.

Buy low, sell high, and pocket the non-transparent difference. Regardless of how you label it or how the money is used, it’s still spread pricing. The legend @martyschladen.bsky.social digs into the 340B program with familiar echoes of Ohio’s PBM saga.

The launch prices of medicines continue to grow – the oncology sector is no different. Check out our latest data referenced in this Bloomberg piece that examines health improvements relative to the growing list prices. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

We know a few things, because we've seen a few things.

Ouch.

You can have low prices for medicines or you can have big discounts off the prices of medicines, but you can’t have both. @martyschladen.bsky.social

Full deep-dive discussion with @drugtopics.bsky.social on PBMs:

“This has the feel of a Truth Social post in the form of an executive order.” Big pop @brianreid.bsky.social www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

Employers can – and should – do better. Let’s talk through it over in the best city in America. ⚫️🟡 web.cvent.com/event/89384e...