As we move into the beautiful fall season in Colorado, we should all take a quick pause to recognize that October is Health Literacy Month. With more and more Americans facing crushing medical debt – 1 in 3 adults in particular and 65% of Americans reporting that they or someone close to them has had a medical bill go into collections – it is important to highlight the benefits of health literacy. As a longtime activist in Colorado, a particular area of concern that has come across my radar recently is that involving Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
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Coloradans certainly agree with these sentiments about PBMs, as shown by polling conducted by Consumers for Quality Care this past summer. The poll put forward numerous proposed policy solutions for high healthcare costs, one of which was to “require health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to pass the rebates or discounts they receive from drug companies on to patients.” That idea received 73% approval nationwide, and 74% approval in Colorado.