Volume 393, Number 10175
9 March 2019
WORLD REPORT A committee brought together Senators and drug company representatives to discuss why drug pricing in the USA is so high, but little progress was made, Susan Jaffe reports.
Tag: Pharmaceutical Care Management Association
No More Secrets: Congress Bans Pharmacist ‘Gag Orders’ On Drug Prices
Update: After this article was posted Oct. 10th, the President signed the legislation into law later that day.
By Susan Jaffe | Kaiser Health News | October 10, 2018 | This KHN story also ran on 
For years, most pharmacists couldn’t give customers even a clue about an easy way to save money on prescription drugs. But the restraints are coming off.
When the cash price for a prescription is less than what you would pay using your insurance plan, pharmacists will no longer have to keep that a secret.
…But there’s a catch: Under the new legislation, pharmacists will not be required to tell patients about the lower cost option. If they don’t, it’s up to the customer to ask. [Continued at Kaiser Health News and at NBC News]
…Looking For Lower Medicare Drug Costs? Ask Your Pharmacist For The Cash Price.
Sometimes a drug plan’s copay is higher than the cash, but insurers’ “gag orders” keep pharmacists from telling Medicare beneficiaries. A little-known Medicare rule requires pharmacists to divulge the lower cash price if patients ask.
By Susan Jaffe | Kaiser Health News | May 30, 2018 | This KHN story also ran on 
As part of President Donald Trump’s blueprint to bring down prescription costs, Medicare officials have warned insurers that “gag orders”
Scott Olson/Getty Images
keeping pharmacists from alerting seniors that they could save money by paying cash — rather than using their insurance — are “unacceptable and contrary” to the government’s effort to promote price transparency.
But the agency stopped short of requiring insurers to lift such restrictions on pharmacists.
That doesn’t mean people with Medicare drug coverage are destined to overpay for prescriptions. Under a little-known Medicare rule, they can pay a lower cash price for prescriptions instead of using their insurance. But first, they must ask the pharmacist about that option…. [Continued at Kaiser Health News, NPR and CNN Money]…