Frier Levitt Co-Founder Jonathan Levitt, Partner Jesse Dresser and pharmacist-attorney Dae Y. Lee recently authored an article for Managed Healthcare Executive on “Why Timing Matters When It Comes to PBM Contracting.”
Timing plays a critical role in any negotiations. This is especially true for plan sponsors, such as governmental entities, self-funded employers, insurers, and managed healthcare organizations, when it comes to negotiating PBM contracts. It is also true that contracting with PBMs is a daunting task and one that plan sponsors should not solely leave up to PBMs or nonfiduciary brokers. But plan sponsors have the ultimate responsibility to review the PBM contract terms and ensure that there are no vague contract terms that would hinder their ability to monitor their PBM’s performance, and more importantly, to ensure that they are in compliance with federal and state laws when providing pharmacy benefits to their beneficiaries. All of this means that plan sponsors must start the negotiation process after fully vetting PBMs performance….
