STAT+: Congress highlighted a chemo drug’s price to blast PBMs — but it’s not a PBM issue

WASHINGTON — Congress blasted drug middlemen at a hearing Tuesday, with multiple lawmakers pointing to a huge discrepancy between how much a chemo drug costs at CVS and its price from Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs.

There’s just one problem: PBMs don’t have anything to do with that discrepancy.

The chemo drug in question, Imatinib, costs $17,000 at CVS and just $72 at Cost Plus Drugs. But it’s a generic medicine — which means PBMs’ negotiating techniques don’t apply. Generic drugs compete on price.

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