The Origin Story of PBM’s.

Mike Magee Do you know the origin story of PBMs, and why they and their middlemen hold 6 of the top 25 spots in the Fortune 500? Here’s a starter course, excerpted from “CODE BLUE: Inside the Medical Industrial Complex” where the full answer resides. “When PBMs began, insurers and employers believed that this new […]

Will the Health Care Bubble Burst in 2019?

source Mike Magee In the dead heat of the summer of 2018, we’re experiencing an epic “non-real fight” over “non-real work” with potential real consequences in 2019. The initial battle lines were drawn some months back when Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon recognized a unique opportunity to dip into the wasteful troughs of […]

The Basics of Pharma Kickbacks – Opaque & Complex

Mike Magee With great fanfare, the New York Times announced this week that UnitedHealthcare “would stop keeping millions of dollars in discounts it gets from drug companies and share them with its customers.” For awhile, pharma, insurers, pharmacies and PBMs have been pointing fingers at each other over escalating costs. That’s become more difficult of […]

Disrupter in Chief – CVS, Aetna, or Amazon?

Mike Magee In 1964, a purveyor of general merchandise based in Rhode Island, coalesced 17 locations under one entity. They were focused on market data, inventory management, and economy of scale. Within five years, they were successful enough to have 40 locations, three with in-store pharmacies. Within another decade, they had standardized their information, data, […]