One of the difficulties with the Affordable Care Act is the lack of transparency on prescription drugs, writes Ken McEldowney of the California nonprofit, Consumer Action. Under the law, health plans decide which drugs to cover while making it difficult to challenge the decisions and find out how the decisions were made. McEldowney writes, “Incomplete or inaccessible information puts at risk the health and financial well-being of consumers. When the issue is health care, our very lives are at risk.” (San Francisco Chronicle, December 30, 2015)
Experts on drug pricing say that a prescription drug bought through an insurance plan could cost more than buying it in a pharmacy. An expert on drug pricing, Dr. Stephen Schondelmeyer, a professor at the University of Minnesota, advocates greater transparency. Pharmacy benefit management companies or PMBs who manage insurance prescription drug claims for employers do not have to disclose the prices they negotiate allowing them to stealthily raise prices for customers who have no other options. (KARE 11, November 18, 2015, by Jay Olstad and Steve Eckert)
Efforts to improve transparency on the prices of prescription drug have intensified in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures. Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives formed a task force to fight the escalating cost of drugs and establish transparency in prices. (International Business Times, November 4, 2015, by Elizabeth Whitman)