By Karen Jowers | Air Force Times
A bipartisan group of 24 congressional lawmakers is questioning whether the Pentagon’s pharmacy contract may be driving up drug costs and limiting access to medication for Tricare beneficiaries, while overcharging independent pharmacies and taxpayers.
The lawmakers are concerned that the Defense Health Agency has decided to retain Express Scripts as the sole pharmacy benefit manager for Tricare, the military insurance system serving 9.6 million troops, retirees and their families.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Lester Martinez-Lopez and DHA director Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, the lawmakers questioned whether Express Scripts may be using anticompetitive tactics to overcharge Tricare.
Express Scripts is the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager in the country. PBMs act as middlemen for pharmacies, drug companies and insurers and play a key role in negotiating drug prices between the various players, as well as helping to decide which medicines an insurer will cover.’