A few years ago, my insurance company notified me that I would no longer be allowed to get any inhaled medication‘s for asthma, such as albuterol, at my local independent pharmacy that I’ve been with for decades. I only had two choices: Walgreens, or their own mail order pharmacy, which they owned. Providing an incentive is one thing; forcing you to change pharmacies is another. 😢
I needed emergency antibiotics and had to get it from CVS because it was the only pharmacy in the area that had it. I was shocked. There were filled prescriptions bulging out of drawers, stacked on every available open space, there were 11 people in line and a full line of cars in the the drive through (which is why I went inside). There were five people busy behind the counter. I considered the volume of prescriptions and the percentage of human error and didn't even question that I needed to check what they gave me was what I should be taking before taking it. CHECK ALL PRESCRIPTIONS BEFORE TAKING THEM. If they're something you take on regular basis - know what they should look like. ALWAYS check. Your prescription are filled by humans. They do their very best not to mess, but life is messy and there's no avoiding errors.
And Caremark (PMB) should’ve never been allowed to merge with CVS!! Where is the FTC?? If there’s ever been a blatant monopolistic practice that should be subject to anti-trust intervention, it’s PBMs owning their own pharmacies!
PBMs already sell across state lines you can get Caremark in all 50 states (through your employer), same with Express Scripts and Optum. This isn’t an issue of regulation stifling competition (it rarely is), it’s an issue of under regulation allowing for vertical monopolies and duopolies to form and crush competition and increase prices, while decreasing quality of care.
I get where you’re coming from, and I like the sentiment. But part of the reason why the United States produces 90% of the worlds new drug innovations is because for profit companies are allowed to make money when they take huge risks in the research and development phase. I don’t think we would have that if all pharmaceutical development companies suddenly became nonprofits.
@Thegreatwarpotato24 I'm Canadian. The reason you think Canadian healthcare is so bad is because of deliberate propaganda by American insurance companies. Look up whistleblower Wendell Potter who admitted to doing this after growing a conscience about it. I've been to the ER a handful of times in the last decade, never have I had to wait up 13 hours. Hospitals with higher wait times like that will be trauma centres, especially at night. It also depends on the province. In Ontario, our Conservative government is doing its best to destroy the public healthcare system. Deliberate underfunding and limiting nurses' pay is not inherently a problem with socialized medicine. It's sabotage. I also have loved ones who have pre-existing conditions who would not be eligible for health insurance in the US. But they are able to live normal lives here. I cannot imagine the strife and pain of dealing with insurance companies back and forth for days or weeks on top of injury and illness. All I have to do is show my health card. It sounds to me like Americans wait just as long or longer, difference is at least we're guaranteed care at the end of the wait.
I noticed I was getting inferior drugs from my pharmacy. It was like I was paying for sugar pills instead of my regular medication refills. After switching to 3 different pharmacies I started to research who owned theses pharmacies. United Health Care had bought up all 3. I don't take these prescriptions anymore because I can't get my REAL medication. I have severe health needs and have to do without because of corporate greed and monopolies. Horrifying!
Forgive my clarification, I believe what you mean is that Americans PAY the most for any drug, than everyone else in the world. The way you worded it makes it seem like ONLY we have the most expensive drugs and no one else.
People who are not doctors should not be deciding what patients has access to as far as prescription drugs cause if your doctor prescribed it then doctor thinks it will treat your illnesses
First I was forced away from my local pharmacy because CVS/Aetna wouldn’t reimburse for prescriptions as much as for CVS. The pharmacy shut down. Then I was with CVS pharmacy and they forced me to move to their mail order PBM Caremark. They pushed that I would get three months of the drugs at a time cheaper instead of monthly. After that they refilled without asking. Then my prescription changed and I was stuck with bottles of drugs I didn’t need. I had to get out of that system but refused to pay one invoice of $31. Now I’m in collections.
@@marketads1 your situation perfectly describes the horrible state of Pharmacy today. I’m sorry you lost your local pharmacy and pray that things will change soon so that independent pharmacies can survive. I’m running my family pharmcy and it is a constatant struggle to keep our doors open with the PBM abuse that we are currently being subjected to. Thanks for sharing your story
I have degenerative disc disease thoracic cervical I willingly backed off my opioid medication. I need surgery.. I'm actually shocked to see Hawly agreeing with her
Also need to address the fact that doctors often proscribe new medications that are crazy expensive but don’t even work as well as a dirt cheap medication.
How about forcing them to separate sell the Practitioner side of their business from the insurance side. That's where the real health benefits will start to show.
There's no 'increasingly'. This robbing the poor to make a business rich has been the world of medicine business model since there were horse draw carts selling miracle cures. Where did you think they got the idea for 'insurance' in the first place?
Warren and Hawley together. Lawmakers are starting to understand this is not a right v. left issue and people are pissed. We'll see how long that lasts when the political contributions start getting throttled.
This is called a "trust". Teddy Roosevelt busted steel trusts, railroad trusts and others. We need him back. 2 local pharmacies have closed and the 3rd is teetering.
@@veramae4098 yes! Where is the FTC?? If there were ever a need for anti-trust legislation, it’s with the vertical integration in pharmacy and medicine today. PBMs should never have been allowed to merge with their own pharmacies and mail order services! Of course they steer patients to their own pharmacies, pay their competitors (especially independent pharmacies) vastly less than they pay their own pharmacies, and try to force out all competition. With the current epidemic of independent pharmacy closures secondary to PBM abuse, I’m afraid if protective action isn’t taken quickly, it won’t be long before they have a practical monopoly. After which I suspect they will shut down many of their own brick and mortar stores and force people to their own mail order services. Quality of care and drug availability will plummet, and prices will skyrocket. I hope real and meaningful action is taken soon.
One day well several times CVS refused to give me my medication.. they said no we don't have the generic but we have the regular it's $1,000.. I actually don't remember what happened but no I didn't pay for that that's ridiculous
I also handle the authorizations for HMO patients the people at the insurance company who had no type of medical background read off a script they made the decision. My boss and my doctor will just say no it was never acceptable. I got everything approved
This is a good first step, but if any real changes are to be made, the government will need to introduce laws regulating how much the medical industry can charge for their products and services. Also crack down on these insurance companies constantly weasleling their way out of their commitments.
If this is what's happening to the pharmacy then you know darn well it's happening to your insurance companies maybe somebody shouldn't be shooting people down unless you find out what's going on
None of what your’e proposing to do is going to change the prices of medications. I can also tell you that retail pharmacies particularly the big name pharmacies are a huge problem. I use the 3 month pharmacy for one of my drugs, because Walgreens wants me to use a cheaper option, which isn’t cheaper in price, and the side effects are basically unwanted by me. There’s always unintended consequences to what congress wants to do. If congress was so great at solving problems then we would have no problems. The problem is that congress does nothing but create problems. Just follow the money. There is some large pac lobbying for it so who is it?
What about pharmacies that own insurance companies? CVS owns Aetna. If CVS weren't absorbing the losses, it is possible that Aetna may have a short lifespan.
If you think Canadian healthcare is bad please look up Wendell Potter. Listen to what he has to say Edit: wait he's literally in this video lol Correction, look up what he had to say about propaganda about Canadian healthcare
It just a big distraction and not even a little bit of a fix. They will just set up seperate holding firms but the same people will invest in all of them and just have a different face man to make it look like it different people.
Too many acronyms too fast for me. I can't follow, so I am going to have to stop viewing, and I am sure I am not the only one. So how effective is this video in informing the listener if the listener stops listening? (Trying to make a point ... not trying to be a "Sister Suzy sells seashells" type tongue twister.)
Why do you call it that? That health care act was derived from a bill that was drafted by conservative groups. That's why it was so lengthy and showed up so fast. They created it to benefit the insurance financiers. They are con artists. They got liberals to take the blame and turned everyone into their marks.
@@mr.factoid105 The central planners behind the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare - were convinced that consolidation in health care would lead to decreased health care spending by eliminating duplication, standardizing treatment protocols and incentivizing better utilization. As three of Obamacare's primary authors wrote in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, the law was designed to "unleash forces that favor integration across the continuum of care." No part of health care was supposed to be spared - doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and others were given regulatory and financial incentives to merge.
@@mr.factoid105 The central planners behind the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare - were convinced that consolidation in health care would lead to decreased health care spending by eliminating duplication, standardizing treatment protocols and incentivizing better utilization. As three of Obamacare's primary authors wrote in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, the law was designed to "unleash forces that favor integration across the continuum of care." No part of health care was supposed to be spared - doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and others were given regulatory and financial incentives to merge.
So I don’t know enough about to healthcare system say if these bill would be productive. But I will say this. I wish Republicans would stop acting as if they are for the free markets because they clearly aren’t. They keep screaming about more competition and yet they keep limiting what businesses can do to compete.
Monopolies stifle competition and sometimes they must be dismantled to promote a competitive market. This process does not usually require additional regulation. It can be accomplished through the courts with an antitrust lawsuit, without the need for legislation. Legislation could potentially harm competition in the run by remaining in effect even as new competitors emerge. However, if the courts handle the matter, it should allow for healthy competition to persist over the long term. in my opinion.
I’m a Republican, but an economic libertarian and all I can say to that is Amen bro. You told the 100% complete truth. They also need to quit saying they’re for freedom. In my state the Florida Legislature is always passing laws that prevent people from having freedom when they get behind the wheel of the car. Passing laws that require cops to give tickets for stopping past the white line at a light.
As Robert stated monopolies stifle competition and conflicts of interest shouldn’t be allowed to continue when it is detrimental to the consumer. The whole argument about not being able to negotiate is garbage. Without the dozens of middle men a pharmacy could buy directly from the manufacturer and pass the saving on to the customer while the pharmacy and the manufacturer still make a profit. With cvs, for example, their pbm negotiates a price from Pfizer, we’ll say, then they sell it to CVS at a markup, who then sells it to you at a markup. I have gone into cvs and been quoted $700+ for a month supply of a medication, then gone over to Walmart and got the same one for $40~. It’s a racket to make ungodly profit , and nothing more.
Its a third party agent .its part of a double billing scheme to defruad the customer will the co colluder plays victim simpathizer while denying copability
A few years ago, my insurance company notified me that I would no longer be allowed to get any inhaled medication‘s for asthma, such as albuterol, at my local independent pharmacy that I’ve been with for decades. I only had two choices: Walgreens, or their own mail order pharmacy, which they owned.
Providing an incentive is one thing; forcing you to change pharmacies is another. 😢
Shouldn’t matter which you choose as long as the cost is the same. They should just pay the cash.
If it's illegal for movie studios to own theatres, how is it legal for big pharma to own pharmacies?
Right
Warren and Hawley! That is what I am talking about! Enough of the partisan stalemate!
Sounds like an extremely smart thing to do this bill needs to pass and this needs to happen!
CVS should never have been allowed to buy Aetna!!
I needed emergency antibiotics and had to get it from CVS because it was the only pharmacy in the area that had it. I was shocked. There were filled prescriptions bulging out of drawers, stacked on every available open space, there were 11 people in line and a full line of cars in the the drive through (which is why I went inside). There were five people busy behind the counter. I considered the volume of prescriptions and the percentage of human error and didn't even question that I needed to check what they gave me was what I should be taking before taking it. CHECK ALL PRESCRIPTIONS BEFORE TAKING THEM. If they're something you take on regular basis - know what they should look like. ALWAYS check. Your prescription are filled by humans. They do their very best not to mess, but life is messy and there's no avoiding errors.
Quite the understatement!
And Caremark (PMB) should’ve never been allowed to merge with CVS!! Where is the FTC?? If there’s ever been a blatant monopolistic practice that should be subject to anti-trust intervention, it’s PBMs owning their own pharmacies!
Give companies the ability to sell across state lines & compete! That will be a huge help!
Right
DEA agent enters the chat
PBMs already sell across state lines you can get Caremark in all 50 states (through your employer), same with Express Scripts and Optum. This isn’t an issue of regulation stifling competition (it rarely is), it’s an issue of under regulation allowing for vertical monopolies and duopolies to form and crush competition and increase prices, while decreasing quality of care.
Doesn't go far enough, healthcare should be non-profit.
I get where you’re coming from, and I like the sentiment. But part of the reason why the United States produces 90% of the worlds new drug innovations is because for profit companies are allowed to make money when they take huge risks in the research and development phase. I don’t think we would have that if all pharmaceutical development companies suddenly became nonprofits.
Gman420bc right
@GMAN420BC That’s a woefully uninformed impractical dream.
@Thegreatwarpotato24 I'm Canadian. The reason you think Canadian healthcare is so bad is because of deliberate propaganda by American insurance companies. Look up whistleblower Wendell Potter who admitted to doing this after growing a conscience about it.
I've been to the ER a handful of times in the last decade, never have I had to wait up 13 hours. Hospitals with higher wait times like that will be trauma centres, especially at night. It also depends on the province. In Ontario, our Conservative government is doing its best to destroy the public healthcare system. Deliberate underfunding and limiting nurses' pay is not inherently a problem with socialized medicine. It's sabotage.
I also have loved ones who have pre-existing conditions who would not be eligible for health insurance in the US. But they are able to live normal lives here.
I cannot imagine the strife and pain of dealing with insurance companies back and forth for days or weeks on top of injury and illness. All I have to do is show my health card. It sounds to me like Americans wait just as long or longer, difference is at least we're guaranteed care at the end of the wait.
@@DugrozReportsthey don't need millions to do that
I noticed I was getting inferior drugs from my pharmacy. It was like I was paying for sugar pills instead of my regular medication refills.
After switching to 3 different pharmacies I started to research who owned theses pharmacies. United Health Care had bought up all 3.
I don't take these prescriptions anymore because I can't get my REAL medication.
I have severe health needs and have to do without because of corporate greed and monopolies. Horrifying!
Then there’s the option to cure with foods.
Three years?
Why do these people get years to resolve problems for
Americans?
Americans
have to do things ASAP.
The US has the most expensive drugs in the world.
and the most expensive medical care - and we have the sickest population.
@ yes absolutely because big pharma and food companies are in bed with all the politicians!
Highest death rate for new born infants in the first world.
Forgive my clarification, I believe what you mean is that Americans PAY the most for any drug, than everyone else in the world. The way you worded it makes it seem like ONLY we have the most expensive drugs and no one else.
America has the most profitable healthcare in the world though. Yay?
I love how bipartisan this issue is
America is by and large rtrded
I had to leave my insurance company to get rid of Optum.
Wack one, once a month and you'll get universal health care in no time.
Thank you Luigi. You showed us these so-called gods bleed. I prefer watching CEOs unalived in the news vs kids/schools/malls
Congress will act, when a millionaire gets wacked..... (It almost rhymed)☺
Let me see if this helps: Congress only acts, When Millionaire CEO's get whacked. Better?
Oh look at that. That thing people say doesn’t solve anything… is solving another thing. Again.
People who are not doctors should not be deciding what patients has access to as far as prescription drugs cause if your doctor prescribed it then doctor thinks it will treat your illnesses
The govt too! If a Dr prescribes it it shouldn't be illegal.
First I was forced away from my local pharmacy because CVS/Aetna wouldn’t reimburse for prescriptions as much as for CVS. The pharmacy shut down. Then I was with CVS pharmacy and they forced me to move to their mail order PBM Caremark. They pushed that I would get three months of the drugs at a time cheaper instead of monthly. After that they refilled without asking. Then my prescription changed and I was stuck with bottles of drugs I didn’t need. I had to get out of that system but refused to pay one invoice of $31. Now I’m in collections.
@@marketads1 your situation perfectly describes the horrible state of Pharmacy today. I’m sorry you lost your local pharmacy and pray that things will change soon so that independent pharmacies can survive. I’m running my family pharmcy and it is a constatant struggle to keep our doors open with the PBM abuse that we are currently being subjected to. Thanks for sharing your story
I have degenerative disc disease thoracic cervical I willingly backed off my opioid medication. I need surgery.. I'm actually shocked to see Hawly agreeing with her
Thank you for the video. And thank you Buddy Carter!
Insurance companies don’t need more competition for healthcare dollars. They’re all doing fine right now.
Greed is one of the seven DEADLY sins for a reason. So is Pride and Wrath. Christians don't mention those last two for good reason.
Thank you, SAN
Undocumented pharmacists can be found in many sanctuary cities.
Also need to address the fact that doctors often proscribe new medications that are crazy expensive but don’t even work as well as a dirt cheap medication.
They are incentivized to do so. Drug sales reps give all kinds of perks to doctors for pushing new more expensive meds. No conflict of interest there.
PBM’s never should have come into existence. They need to go
How about forcing them to separate sell the Practitioner side of their business from the insurance side. That's where the real health benefits will start to show.
The whole system is corrupt.
Nice, Republican and Democrat in Congress agree on something.
Increasingly a MESS
There's no 'increasingly'. This robbing the poor to make a business rich has been the world of medicine business model since there were horse draw carts selling miracle cures. Where did you think they got the idea for 'insurance' in the first place?
I need more sleep. I read Bill as William 😅
Me too. I thought, Bill who? 🙃
They definitely need to pass that bill!
There needs to be a Bill that says the Physician approves the medication and the insurance company pays the pharmacy and no exceptions are made!
Warren and Hawley together. Lawmakers are starting to understand this is not a right v. left issue and people are pissed. We'll see how long that lasts when the political contributions start getting throttled.
Single payer health insurance is what we need in America.
A monopoly that should be broken up and sold
This system is too big to change. America needs a change. Both political sides don’t seem to care about healthcare for their constituents.
Isn't that sad you know nobody helped us they kept saying we'll wait for Trump I lost all respect when that's all I heard..
This is called a "trust".
Teddy Roosevelt busted steel trusts, railroad trusts and others.
We need him back. 2 local pharmacies have closed and the 3rd is teetering.
@@veramae4098 yes! Where is the FTC?? If there were ever a need for anti-trust legislation, it’s with the vertical integration in pharmacy and medicine today. PBMs should never have been allowed to merge with their own pharmacies and mail order services! Of course they steer patients to their own pharmacies, pay their competitors (especially independent pharmacies) vastly less than they pay their own pharmacies, and try to force out all competition. With the current epidemic of independent pharmacy closures secondary to PBM abuse, I’m afraid if protective action isn’t taken quickly, it won’t be long before they have a practical monopoly. After which I suspect they will shut down many of their own brick and mortar stores and force people to their own mail order services. Quality of care and drug availability will plummet, and prices will skyrocket. I hope real and meaningful action is taken soon.
Good reporting! Just the facts! Get responses from both sides. (Or at least give them that opportunity.)
They have no business owing
One day well several times CVS refused to give me my medication.. they said no we don't have the generic but we have the regular it's $1,000.. I actually don't remember what happened but no I didn't pay for that that's ridiculous
Howzabout we roll back to the pre HMO times ?
Its a big problem
I also handle the authorizations for HMO patients the people at the insurance company who had no type of medical background read off a script they made the decision. My boss and my doctor will just say no it was never acceptable. I got everything approved
No one should have to get a prescription for their medicine. We should be allowed to make our own decisions on what drugs we take.
Crack down on all health insurance
This is a good first step, but if any real changes are to be made, the government will need to introduce laws regulating how much the medical industry can charge for their products and services. Also crack down on these insurance companies constantly weasleling their way out of their commitments.
Universal healthcare like other countries have. No one should profit.
Yes
If this is what's happening to the pharmacy then you know darn well it's happening to your insurance companies maybe somebody shouldn't be shooting people down unless you find out what's going on
Bill who?
None of what your’e proposing to do is going to change the prices of medications. I can also tell you that retail pharmacies particularly the big name pharmacies are a huge problem. I use the 3 month pharmacy for one of my drugs, because Walgreens wants me to use a cheaper option, which isn’t cheaper in price, and the side effects are basically unwanted by me. There’s always unintended consequences to what congress wants to do. If congress was so great at solving problems then we would have no problems. The problem is that congress does nothing but create problems. Just follow the money. There is some large pac lobbying for it so who is it?
Right good
Right good point
What about pharmacies that own insurance companies? CVS owns Aetna. If CVS weren't absorbing the losses, it is possible that Aetna may have a short lifespan.
Beautiful
If you think Canadian healthcare is bad please look up Wendell Potter. Listen to what he has to say
Edit: wait he's literally in this video lol
Correction, look up what he had to say about propaganda about Canadian healthcare
It just a big distraction and not even a little bit of a fix. They will just set up seperate holding firms but the same people will invest in all of them and just have a different face man to make it look like it different people.
Selling big pharmacies means no pharmacy. Something Harris would do.
Very good news
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
❤❤
This is comment section got invaded by asylum patients. It's funny because it gives enough material for IG or Reddit. It's a mine of karma.
Too many acronyms too fast for me. I can't follow, so I am going to have to stop viewing, and I am sure I am not the only one. So how effective is this video in informing the listener if the listener stops listening? (Trying to make a point ... not trying to be a "Sister Suzy sells seashells" type tongue twister.)
Obamacare
Why do you call it that? That health care act was derived from a bill that was drafted by conservative groups. That's why it was so lengthy and showed up so fast. They created it to benefit the insurance financiers. They are con artists. They got liberals to take the blame and turned everyone into their marks.
what's the connection to the affordable care act?
@@mr.factoid105 The central planners behind the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare - were convinced that consolidation in health care would lead to decreased health care spending by eliminating duplication, standardizing treatment protocols and incentivizing better utilization. As three of Obamacare's primary authors wrote in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, the law was designed to "unleash forces that favor integration across the continuum of care." No part of health care was supposed to be spared - doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and others were given regulatory and financial incentives to merge.
@@mr.factoid105 The central planners behind the Affordable Care Act - also known as Obamacare - were convinced that consolidation in health care would lead to decreased health care spending by eliminating duplication, standardizing treatment protocols and incentivizing better utilization. As three of Obamacare's primary authors wrote in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, the law was designed to "unleash forces that favor integration across the continuum of care." No part of health care was supposed to be spared - doctors, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and others were given regulatory and financial incentives to merge.
@@mr.factoid105 The fact it drove costs through the roof.
So I don’t know enough about to healthcare system say if these bill would be productive. But I will say this. I wish Republicans would stop acting as if they are for the free markets because they clearly aren’t. They keep screaming about more competition and yet they keep limiting what businesses can do to compete.
Monopolies stifle competition and sometimes they must be dismantled to promote a competitive market. This process does not usually require additional regulation. It can be accomplished through the courts with an antitrust lawsuit, without the need for legislation. Legislation could potentially harm competition in the run by remaining in effect even as new competitors emerge. However, if the courts handle the matter, it should allow for healthy competition to persist over the long term. in my opinion.
I’m a Republican, but an economic libertarian and all I can say to that is Amen bro. You told the 100% complete truth. They also need to quit saying they’re for freedom. In my state the Florida Legislature is always passing laws that prevent people from having freedom when they get behind the wheel of the car. Passing laws that require cops to give tickets for stopping past the white line at a light.
As Robert stated monopolies stifle competition and conflicts of interest shouldn’t be allowed to continue when it is detrimental to the consumer. The whole argument about not being able to negotiate is garbage. Without the dozens of middle men a pharmacy could buy directly from the manufacturer and pass the saving on to the customer while the pharmacy and the manufacturer still make a profit. With cvs, for example, their pbm negotiates a price from Pfizer, we’ll say, then they sell it to CVS at a markup, who then sells it to you at a markup. I have gone into cvs and been quoted $700+ for a month supply of a medication, then gone over to Walmart and got the same one for $40~. It’s a racket to make ungodly profit , and nothing more.
You're confused
Inside every capitalist is a raging homosexual.
This breeds extremists.
So?
Its a third party agent .its part of a double billing scheme to defruad the customer will the co colluder plays victim simpathizer while denying copability
@@ryancrewz 🤔