(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Thursday morning, WIBC host Tony Katz conducted an engaging and informative interview about two very important pieces of legislation signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday – landmark legislation, which garnered very little coverage from the mainstream media.
The two bills the president signed — the Know the Lowest Price Act and the Patients’ Right to Know Drug Prices Act — are meant to prevent “gag clauses” in agreements between pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who administer prescription drug programs for insurance companies, which pharmacists say kept them from disclosing cheaper drug options to consumers.
Tony spoke with Dr. Roger Kline – a physician, lawyer, and contributor to The Hill – who called both pieces of legislation a bi-partisan effort to expose and eliminate a dirty secret in the pharmaceutical industry that costs consumers millions of dollars per year.
Dr. Kline:
“Prior to this legislation, pharmacy benefit managers have been making money for years through something called a “clawback,” which allows these pharmacies to keep consumers in the dark on prices, when many times the patients co-pay is more money than the actual cost of the drug itself.
…It’s important to understand that you have options, and while pharmacists aren’t obligated to tell you the cheapest option – insurance versus cash, generics, etc. – you need to ask so you can make the decision that’s right for you.”
Dr. Kline also had a very direct and insightful take on President Trump’s attempts to reform the health insurance industry, then proceeded to eviscerate Senator Joe Donnelly’s support of Obamacare, which “destroyed the individual insurance market.”
Click the link below to hear this interview; it’s the best thing you’ll hear all day:
