EP. 6: Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Episode 6 – Understanding Pharmacy Benefit Managers, their role in drug spending, and how they work with plan sponsors to negotiate drug price rebates. There are several players in this space: health insurance plans, of course — private companies offering individual or employer-based plans or managing benefits for government programs, such as Medicare. There are pharmacies. And there are the drug manufacturers. Coordinating among these entities, firms called pharmacy benefit managers work for insurers to administer the prescription drug portion of a health insurance plan. As an intermediary, it’s the job of the PBM to make sure covered patients have access to new drug therapies while also keeping an eye on spending for insurance companies or employers.  During this Mulready Minutes Podcast, we’ll hear from Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready as he visits with Kelli Price, division director at OID overseeing compliance of our Pharmacy Benefit Managers Division at OID.

Kelli Price, Managing Counsel, Oklahoma Insurance Department