Mark Cuban, Ferrin Williams weigh in on drug costs, rebates, transparency
Mark Cuban and Scripta’s chief pharmacy officer, Ferrin Williams, recently sat down with healthcare influencer and podcaster Stacey Richter to talk about some of the big issues facing the drug category, such as rebates, the need for transparency and prescription filling behavior.
Appearing on the “Relentless Health Value” podcast, the pair urge self-insured CEOs and CFOs to get involved in their pharmacy benefits and discuss why, as Mark says, “transparency in [member] information is why it’s a great partnership.”
In the podcast discussion, Richter sets up the problem: “There are people out there who are very strategically taking wild advantage of a situation where CEO /CFOs fear anything to do with health care in the title and don't do their normal level of due diligence.”
[Read more: Pharmacy orgs laud DIR fee and pharmacy access bill as vital for PBM reform]
Some excerpts from the interview, courtesy of Relentless Health Value:
Cuban: “As a CEO, when I finally realized that my sickest employees were subsidizing this [rebate] check I was getting, it made me sick to my stomach... And that’s why I’m here to tell CEOs of self-insured companies and CFOs and HR people.”
“It is so frickin’ embarrassing that I didn't dig in, despite being in the healthcare industry, and once you do dig in, you just realize how bad it is… Cost Plus Drugs comes along and you can see what you should be paying for all these different medications, and people are just stunned at how they’re being overcharged.”
"I mean, this industry is so, so simple. If these companies just act in their own best financial and employee interest, they can simplify this very quickly because if the big three PBMs, which also own the insurance companies, lose 5 of the top 15 non-PBM Fortune 50 companies, their business practices are going to change.”
[Read more: Pharmacy orgs laud DIR fee and pharmacy access bill as vital for PBM reform]
Williams is solving the problem at the helm of Scripta’s clinical strategies organization, after a 15-year career in pharmacy spanning the consulting, PBM and retail pharmacy sectors. As CPO, she is responsible for devising innovative cost-containment strategies for prescriptions.
“In most industries, competition drives pricing. But in our industry, the competition happens as PBMs make their formularies, so they’re negotiating with the manufacturers who sometimes pay 60% to 80% in rebates just to be listed on the formulary.”
“[Members] are used to spending seven minutes or less with their doctor, getting an electronic script sent to their nearest pharmacy (which is likely a mega chain) and then having that casino-like experience where they get to the pharmacy hoping that they’re going to be able to afford the drug. If they can, they’ll pick it up; and if they can’t, they don’t get it.”
“Suddenly, when you have companies like Mark Cuban’s publishing prices openly and transparently, and companies like ours [Scripta] helping members who actually have a shopping comparison tool just like everything else that they buy, it is game changing.”
To listen to the podcast interview, click here.