Are Pharmacy Benefit Managers the Real Villains of Healthcare? with Deborah Keaveny

You know those mystery charges at the pharmacy that make zero sense? Yeah, turns out, there’s a whole shadowy system behind it and no, it’s not your pharmacist’s fault. This week on Knock Knock Hi, Kristin and I talk with Deborah Keaveny , president of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT), about the tangled web of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), why your copays never go down, and how independent pharmacies are basically being squeezed to death. We get into the secret contracts, gag clauses, clawbacks, and even why some pharmacists now run liquor stores and coffee shops just to keep the lights on. It’s equal parts depressing, eye-opening, and—believe it or not—hopeful. There’s real legislation happening, and maybe, just maybe, the tide is turning.

Takeaways:

• Discover how PBMs started as simple payment processors… and morphed into billion-dollar healthcare gatekeepers.

• Learn why pharmacists sometimes lose money by filling your prescription—and how “clawback fees” make it worse.

• The shocking truth about mail-order pharmacies (hint: PBMs own them and pay themselves hundreds more per script).

• Why GoodRx isn’t always good—and what lawsuits are revealing about patient data and price collusion.

• How new state and federal legislation might finally crack down on PBMs, save independent pharmacies, and protect patients.

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Want more Deborah Keaveny

Twitter/X: @TruthRx   

Facebook: https://facebook.com/TruthRx

Instagram: @putt_national

Twitter/X: @keavenyrx   

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