• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

2

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Commentary

PBMs Are Hogging Our Drug Discounts

By
Peter J. Pitts
Peter J. Pitts
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Peter J. Pitts
Peter J. Pitts
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 28, 2018, 1:14 PM ET
Lipitor tablets made by Pfizer and distributed by Parke-Davis are seen November 30, 2011 in Washington, DC.
Lipitor(atorvastain calcium) tablets made by Pfizer and distributed by Parke-Davis are seen November 30, 2011 in Washington, DC. Pfizer's patent on the best-selling drug of all-time, the cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor, expired on November 30, 2011, opening the path to generic competitors for America's most popular medication. Lipitor came on the market in 1997, and has raked in some $100 billion for Pfizer even in a crowded market that includes various other cholesterol-lowering statins, many of which have already gone generic. In the United States, anti-cholesterol drugs account for 255 million prescriptions a year, and about nine million people are taking Lipitor. AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The Trump administration has aimed a dagger at the heart of high pharmacy bills: the go-betweens in the supply chain that have been gouging insurers, drugmakers, and, most importantly, consumers.

Through its blueprint to reduce drug spending—called American Patients First—the administration has invited public comment on the role and responsibilities of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. These are the mega-corporations that health insurers hire to administer their drug benefits.

Officials surely got an earful. In their role as go-betweens, PBMs negotiate big discounts from drugmakers. But rather than passing those savings on to insurers and consumers, they have found ways to pocket many of the proceeds for themselves.

The sums involved are huge. If just one-third of the total discounts PBMs negotiate for Medicare’s drug benefit were passed on to patients at the pharmacy counter, seniors and others in Medicare would have nearly $20 billion more in their pockets over the next decade. Indeed, the top three PBMs—Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and OptumRx, who together control 75% of the market—collected more than $10 billion in profits in 2015.

How are PBMs generating such profits?

A recently leaked contract reveals the sordid details of the tactics PBMs use to secure savings for themselves.

First, PBMs tend to hog rebates. Drug manufacturers offer PBMs a percentage discount or negotiated “rebate” off a drug’s list price. In exchange, the PBM agrees to cover the drug under its affiliated insurance plans, thus making it available to more consumers.

The majority of rebate dollars should, in theory, flow back to health plans. Then the plans can pass those savings to patients in the form of lower premiums or out-of-pocket expenses.

But the leaked contract with Express Scripts, the nation’s largest PBM, gets crafty with its definition of “rebate.” (The contract was removed from the web after Express Scripts filed a copyright complaint.) The contract carves out so many exceptions to the “rebate” that the PBM itself ends up retaining most of the negotiated discounts for itself.

For instance, PBMs receive extra “inflation payments” from drug manufacturers to cover annual increases in a drug’s list price. But these payments are not classified as rebates. Similarly, PBMs charge drug companies “administrative fees,” “service fees,” and more for their services. But these fees also aren’t considered rebates. So PBMs don’t pass them along to health plans. They keep them all for themselves.

Second, the document reveals that Express Scripts uses cryptic algorithms to reclassify generic drugs as brand name drugs. Drugmakers usually offer higher discounts for generics than they do for brand drugs. If a PBM gets a big discount on a generic drug, and then reclassifies it as a brand drug, it avoids passing along the full discount to the health plan it’s representing. The PBM essentially buys the drug low, sells it high, and pockets the excess.

Third, PBMs underpay pharmacists. They do this by determining how much to pay pharmacies for prescription drugs and how much to charge health plans for the same drug, according to something called a Maximum Allowable Cost, or MAC. MACs, however, allow PBMs to charge health plans far more than what they pay pharmacies. It’s the pharmacies—particularly independent, non-chain stores—that are hit especially hard by this practice. They wield little negotiating power to change specific terms of PBM contracts.

And if the pharmacy owners want to complain? The contracts may contain a silencing clause—as the leaked contract did—that prohibits parties from making derogatory statements about PBMs.

PBMs are knowingly profiting off the backs of American patients, pharmacists, and innovators. It’s time for them to change their shady practices—and pass on discounts to patients. The sunlight the Trump administration is calling for will be a great disinfectant.

Peter J. Pitts, a former Food and Drug Administration associate commissioner, is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

About the Author
By Peter J. Pitts
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Commentary

craig
CommentaryPharmaceutical Industry
Big pharma’s patent cliff meets a new biotech Cold War: We need to outrun China, not outlaw it
By Craig GarthwaiteJuly 24, 2026
15 hours ago
tim
Commentarysmartphones and mobile devices
NYU Stern pricing expert: There’s a hidden ‘AI tax’ hitting Apple, Dell — and your next phone
By Srikanth JagabathulaJuly 24, 2026
15 hours ago
nyse
CommentaryEconomics
AI doesn’t end scarcity. It relocates it
By François Candelon, Paul-Louis Andres and Augustin ManchonJuly 24, 2026
17 hours ago
Can Bangkok future-proof itself against the heat?
CommentaryThailand
Can Bangkok future-proof itself against the heat?
By Curtis S. Chin and Ella TanJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
mm
CommentaryLeadership
Michael Muthukrishna: The ‘lone genius’ myth is wrong and it’s holding back your business
By Michael MuthukrishnaJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
Paul Keary (L) and Mike Sutcliff (R).
CommentaryAI agents
Teneo & Thoughtworks CEOs: the AI race will be won with governance, not speed 
By Paul Keary and Mike SutcliffJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
19 hours ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
Real Estate
The millennial generation has split, new Fed research shows: Those over 35 are edging toward boomer-style wealth, while everyone else falls behind
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 22, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
17 hours ago
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
AI
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.