AH032 - Prescription Rebates: Agreements, Guarantees, and More, with NPC's John O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, and Julie Patterson, PharmD, PhD

In this episode of the Astonishing Healthcare podcast, we dive into the National Pharmaceutical Council's recent employer survey on rebates and rebate guarantees published in the AJMC, Prescription Rebate Guarantees: Employer Insights ((7/19/24). NPC CEO John O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, and Senior Research Director Julie Patterson, PharmD, PhD joined Capital Rx's Co-Founder and CEO AJ Loiacono in the studio for the discussion, which covered everything from how and why rebates have become so important to employers and traditional PBMs and what "pass-through" means to "the spreadsheet" and the difficulty in comparing traditional and more modern PBMs and how rebates impact a plan's net total cost.AJ and John highlight how PBMs manipulate drug prices through rebate incentives, resulting in higher costs for employers and patients, and Julie reviews the results of their survey, explaining why employers must "break the addiction to rebates." They emphasize the importance of transparency and the role of employer benefits consultants in PBM procurement and evaluation as well (at Capital Rx, we value objective, helpful advice on benefit design for our employees). Check out the survey and be sure to sign up for NPC's newsletter to follow their work - it sounds like there's a lot more to follow!Contact InformationSign up for the NPC This Week Newsletter: https://www.npcnow.org/subscribe-updatesCheck out the National Pharmaceutical Council on LinkedInConnect with John O’Brien, PharmD, MPH on LinkedInConnect with Julie Patterson, PharmD, PhD on LinkedInRelated ContentPharmacy Benefits 101: Pharmaceutical RebatesAH002 - A Former Pharmacy Program Director's View on Controlling Pharmacy CostsOur Single-Ledger Model™ - Pharma Revenue ExplainedVisit Capital Rx Insights for this episode's transcript and additional content!