Healthcare Middlemen Causing California Communities of Color to Pay More at the Pharmacy Counter
African Americans in California face significant disparities in diagnosis, treatment, and access to health care they need.
Treatments for many of these conditions have become unaffordable for Los Angeles families due to health care industry middlemen who manipulate drug pricing to increase their bottom line.
One commonsense solution would be regulating the PBM industry to ensure that cost savings realized through drug manufacturer rebates are passed down to consumers.
But because PBMs determine what treatments are available on a drug formulary, and because they receive rebates based on the cost of the drugs, they would have little incentive to include these types of more affordable treatments.
As our country and our state begin to discuss solutions to address the health inequities among communities of color, we urge them to end loopholes that are allowing PBMs to pocket the cost savings that are rightly due to California consumers.
