Pharmacy benefit managers make it difficult for patients to access care by driving up costs and creating delays.
Several patient advocates, including some familiar faces, have shared their stories as part of a new report, Pulling Back the Curtain on PBMs, to show how pharmaceutical middlemen, like PBMs, damage patient outcomes by disrupting access to affordable, transparent care.
The report features Patients Rising community members who share their experiences fighting with PBMs to get prescriptions approved, learning how to understand drug formularies, and much, much more. You can listen to their personal experiences here.
Our work doesn’t stop until patients in the rare and chronic disease community have access to affordable and transparent care. Read on to learn more about the work we are doing to put the power back into the patient's corner.
In The News
Congressman Escalates War With PBMs. Carter issued a report entitled "Pulling Back the Curtain on PBMs: A Path Towards Affordable Prescription Drugs." The report included stories from patients who had experienced difficulties in accessing their medications due to PBM rules or excessively high drug costs. (MedPage Today)
Why this tech CEO and investor got Ryan Reynolds to film his colonoscopy. Take a tech entrepreneur, throw in actor Ryan Reynolds and a couple of colonoscopies, and you can save lives. At least that’s the hope of a new organization, named Lead From Behind, that launched this week with the help of Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney. (Biz Journals)
Convenience wins—whether it means shopping online, because my favorite store is far from home, or telehealth that gives me the option of connecting remotely with my clinical care provider. The technological revolution in healthcare has transformed how many of us seek care, including the use of mental therapy apps. This is particularly relevant in the current context, with pandemic-related stresses and the severe shortage of mental health professionals. An app can provide instant access to care and might cost less than visiting a professional.
This Friday, hear from Brooks Bell, a patient advocate and cancer survivor, on the work she’s doing with Lead from Behind, a campaign working to increase awareness around colon cancer.
The campaign is focused on changing public perception around colonoscopies, especially with an uptick in diagnoses among younger adults. Brooks explains why the campaign, which features actor Ryan Reynolds, focuses on changing the perceptions of younger generations:
BrooksBell: “We wanted to reach younger people because we wanted them to start to feel differently about colonoscopies long before they're actually eligible because there is about a four-year delay today from when people become eligible for their first colonoscopy versus when they actually get it.
And in that four years, a lot of cancer happens. So if we can get people to, you know, within a month of turning 45, they have scheduled their colonoscopy, that would be a huge win versus waiting four years to get around to doing it.”
Open enrollment for Medicare opens this Saturday, October 15th, and will continue throughout the fall until December 7th. For seniors interested or currently enrolled in Medicare, this is the time of year patients can change or switch a plan that isn’t working for them.
It’s a good idea to meet with your care team to make sure your medications will continue to be covered. Plans tend to change annually so it’s important to double-check that your prescriptions will still be covered by your current plan. Read more information on Medicare plans here.
Thank you for spending your Wednesday with us. We’ll be back next week with more.
Sincerely,
Terry Wilcox
CEO & Founder Patients Rising
Patients Rising, 700 12th Street NW Suite 700, Washington, District Of Columbia 20005, United States, 202-751-1186
