To the editor: Kudos to columnist Michael Hiltzik for his revealing reporting on how each shopper is manipulated by pharmacy middlemen and the businesses that personal them equivalent to CVS. They elevate costs to fatten their income whereas those that can least afford it pay excessively for desperately wanted medicines.
He explains that the pharmacy homeowners, hospitals, drug corporations, insurers and physician teams have all been wolfed up into monopolies that revenue drastically from our ache. I pray the Federal Commerce Fee actually does lastly deal with this mass ripoff. Don’t blame Biden for drug inflation. Blame the businesses having fun with fats income.
Alex Ben Block, Encino
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To the editor: Earlier than pharmacy administration corporations got here on the healthcare scene there have been greater than 50,000 independently owned pharmacies in the USA. Now, there are about 19,500.
The administration corporations adjudicate claims submitted by pharmacies, paying some and denying others. And, increasingly usually, these corporations are paying the independently owned pharmacies lower than their price of the medicine that they’re dishing out, driving them out of enterprise.
If the current development continues, clients may have no selection however chain drug shops or mail order pharmacies, largely owned by the prescription administration teams.
The day of patronizing an unbiased pharmacy, the place the pharmacist greets you by identify, is vanishing.
Herbert Weinberg, Marina del Rey
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To the editor: The piece on pharmacy profit managers describes horrible issues that will occur, however not what has occurred. Even worse, the columnist limits his analysis to Medicare Half D with no point out of Half C.
My spouse and I are each coated beneath Medicare Half C and couldn’t be any extra happy with the price of our pharmaceuticals and the standard and price of our medical care generally. It’s nearly as good because it will get.
Medicare Half C is an ideal mannequin for a Medicare for All plan if just one may settle for the truth that non-public insurance coverage could also be or is extra environment friendly than authorities applications.
Kevin Minihan, Los Angeles
