Forever Rising Drug Costs

Finding the best way to solve escalating healthcare costs in the United States is a subject of much heated debate. One area where most seem to agree: pharmacy costs are out of control! Collectively, we’re learning more about the issues all the time.

60 Minutes recently ran a damaging report on a company that hiked the price of Acthar from $1,650 a vial to over $40,000 a vial with no improvements in the product. The reporting went on to discuss the lack of oversight by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) who are supposed to be advocates for their customers yet, by design, have inherent conflicts of interest. While the segment was very enlightening, it left off a critical factor that drives behaviors in the industry: rebates.

Also, during this month, President Trump announced his intent to tackle pharmacy pricing. Health and Human Services released a 39-page document titled “American Patients First: the Trump Administration Blueprint to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Costs.” The document is kicked off with a statement from the President that includes “I have directed my Administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of our top priorities. Prices will come down.”

There’s no doubt that drug pricing is a major problem and that any political solution will take time. In the meantime, Expense Consulting can help your organization navigate through the complexities and make sure you are getting the best deal on your pharmaceutical purchases.

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EnergyCenter

Every business consumes energy. We hope you find this chart useful when benchmarking your energy costs. Please note, Expense Consulting is a licensed utility aggregator, so be sure to contact us for the best possible energy pricing.

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About Expense Consulting

Expense Consulting is a full-service accounts payable auditing and cost reduction consultancy, helping organizations significantly reduce operating expenses. Since 2009, we've helped hundreds of organizations recover millions of dollars of over-billings and have secured millions of dollars in future cost savings. To learn more about reducing your organization's expenses, contact us at (860) 761-3500.