The Trump Administration’s interest in lowering drug prices, in part by making it possible for pharma companies to sell direct to consumers, sparked an engaging exchange between Debunked Podcast hosts MedCity News Editor-in-Chief Arundhati Parmar and Samir Batra, managing partner of Health Innovation Pitch. They discussed how the math would work, which pharma companies have already begun taking a direct-to-consumer approach for certain drugs, and where this would lead. Arkansas, home to Walmart, offered a preview of how this debate is playing out among states. The Natural State has banned PBMs from owning or operating retail pharmacies, and other states are considering similar actions.
“I like what Trump is trying to do here. In theory this makes sense,” Samir observed. “But if we eliminate the middlemen, the brokers, the fat disappears … and pharma gets to deal directly with the payers.”
Speaking of payers, UnitedHealth Group’s move to replace CEO Andrew Witty with UH Chairman and former CEO Stephen Hemsley, following poor quarterly earnings and a rocky 2025 outlook, sparked another conversation about the payer’s Medcare Advantage issues. A report by The Guardian Newspaper alleging UnitedHealthcare incentivized nursing homes against transferring patients to hospitals to keep costs down added to UH’s negative publicity trend.
The Role of Consultants in Tackling Healthcare Expenses
To ensure effective cost mitigation, employers can’t wait for the market to adjust — they have to punch first.
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