PBMs Cost Indiana’s Taxpayers Billions 

By Consumers for Quality Care, on October 30, 2024

At the request of Indiana state legislators, an audit on the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) industry found that PBMs cost Hoosiers $7 billion dollars over the course of five years, according to Fox 59.   

The Indiana General Assembly’s Health Care Cost Oversight Task Force was recently presented the report, which found that the state paid PBMs $7 billion to administer prescription drug programs for state employees and for those enrolled in Medicaid from 2017 to 2022. That’s as if each Indiana resident paid roughly $1,000 to the industry.  

According to RxConnection, LLC, which conducted the audit, current state law has a loophole that allows the PBM industry to pocket the savings they negotiate between drug manufactures and insurance companies, instead of giving it back to the state.  

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed a willingness to close this loophole in the upcoming 2025 legislative session. State Senator Andy Zay (R-Marion) said that the PBM industry had “failed miserably” at saving taxpayers money and that he would like to reform how medications are administered under these plans.  

CQC urges lawmakers and regulators to continue scrutinizing harmful PBM practices that increase what consumers pay for prescription drugs.