FTC Caught in Balancing Act With Pharmacy Benefit Manager Probe

The FTC will have to sift through competing claims within the pharmacy supply chain as it probes the entities that manage prescription drug benefits.

Independent pharmacies say pharmacy benefit managers’ recent integration with retail pharmacies and health plans has steered patients away from their businesses. But the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the leading PBM trade group, says PBMs haven’t limited the healthy growth of the independent pharmacy marketplace—which many rural populations rely on for treatment.

The long-running debate comes as the Federal Trade Commission investigates whether PBMs’ practices are anticompetitive and contribute to higher drug prices. Drug policy analysts say ...