Employers Hope FTC Probe of Pharmacy Benefits Eases Drug Prices

Large companies that spend billions of dollar a year on prescription drugs for their employees are hoping that the Federal Trade Commission’s inquiry into pharmaceutical benefit manager business practices will yield information that spurs major policy changes to reduce drug prices.

“PBMs were originally created to be a solution to high drug costs, but now we see them as part of the problem,” Bill Kramer, executive director for health policy with the Purchaser Business Group on Health, said in an interview.

The FTC unanimously voted June 7 to conduct an inquiry into the PBM industry, sending compulsory orders to the ...