Listen To Your Heart, PBM News, Tampons

A free public service for a better community

Jul 10, 2024

A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare

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Med School Tuition Covered at JHU for Many

Most medical students at Johns Hopkins University will no longer pay tuition, thanks to a $1 billion gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Monday.

Starting in the fall, the donation will cover full tuition for medical students from families earning less than $300,000. Living expenses and fees will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000.

Bloomberg Philanthropies said that currently almost two-thirds of all students seeking a doctor of medicine degree from Johns Hopkins qualify for financial aid, and 45% of the current class will also receive living expenses. The school estimates that graduates' average total loans will decrease from $104,000 currently to $60,279 by 2029.

FTC Report Slams Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Let’s remember what a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) does. PBMs execute the drug portion of health insurance for many health insurance companies. PBMS take kickbacks/bribes from drug makers to put drugs on insurance “formularies” (approved drug lists). These formularies do not always have the best drug for you or the one your doctor wants you to have, just the one the PBM took a bribe to put there. They force drug makers to jack up prices to cover the costs of the bribe. They negotiate contracts with pharmacies to take set prices for each drug in the formulary. Those prices can often be lower than the cost to the pharmacist. The club the PBM holds is that if the store does not take the deal then that insurance will not be accepted at that pharmacy and those customers never walk in the door.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sharply criticized pharmacy benefit managers, saying in a scathing 71-page interim report that “these powerful middlemen may be profiting by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies. ”The regulator’s study signals a significant ramping up of its scrutiny of benefit managers under the agency’s chair, Lina Khan. It represents a remarkable turnabout for an agency that has long taken a hands-off approach to policing these companies.

“The FTC’s interim report lays out how dominant pharmacy benefit managers can hike the cost of drugs—including overcharging patients for cancer drugs,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The report also details how PBMs can squeeze independent pharmacies that many Americans—especially those in rural communities—depend on for essential care. The FTC will continue to use all our tools and authorities to scrutinize dominant players across healthcare markets and ensure that Americans can access affordable healthcare.”

The report finds that PBMs wield enormous power over patients’ ability to access and afford their prescription drugs, allowing PBMs to significantly influence what drugs are available and at what price. This can have dire consequences, with nearly 30 percent of Americans surveyed reporting rationing or even skipping doses of their prescribed medicines due to high costs, the report states.

The interim report also finds that PBMs hold substantial influence over independent pharmacies by imposing unfair, arbitrary, and harmful contractual terms that can impact independent pharmacies’ ability to stay in business and serve their communities. (FTC Press Release)

Here is a table from the FTC Press Release that shows that CVS, Cigna, and United Health control 89% of the prescriptions filled. Moreover each of these companies is vertically integrated with a health insurance company, and have mail order pharmacies. Of course CVS maintains 10,000 stores as well.

It is high time that Congress reign this in. If we had a single payer national universal healthcare system then we could negotiate all drug costs and be done with this scam. Until then we need legislation to rein them in. There are a variety of bills in Congress. The one that seems to address most of the problems was proposed by Senator Sanders of Vermont. It is S. 1339, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act.

ACTION

Our Senators contact info is here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials. Let’s ask our Senators to get that bill up for a vote.

Our use RESISTBOT and text SIGN PODXML to 50409 to send this message.

“I am your constituent and I want you to have a look at the state of prescription drugs in the US. The FTC just released a report that documents how 3 Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) control nearly 90% of the prescriptions in the US. Here is a link to the report, https://www.ftc.gov/reports/pharmacy-benefit-managers-report.

PBMs take kickbacks to push certain drugs to patients as opposed to what doctors select, they have unfair and uncompetitive business arrangements with pharmacies. Their behavior has dire consequences. Since they unfairly increase prices, 30% of those surveyed skipped medications because of cost.

You were sent to do a job and I want you to rein in those that take advantage of the sick to line their pockets unfairly. I want you to cosponsor and enact S. 1339, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act and start protecting your constituents.”

No Cardiologists in 50% of US Counties

Millions of Americans likely to develop and die from heart disease live in cardiology deserts — areas of the country without a single heart specialist to care for them.

New research published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that nearly half of all counties in the U.S. lack a practicing cardiologist.

Most of those counties are rural, with residents who tend to be sicker in general with complex medical problems. People living in those counties “have a much higher prevalence of the entire spectrum of cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol,” he said.

Warraich’s study, conducted in partnership with the web-based pharmacy GoodRx, found that of the 3,143 counties in the U.S., 46.3% don't have a cardiologist. Most of those, 86.2%, are rural counties with lower income levels, less access to healthy food and fewer health care providers overall.

In the map below, orange indicates the presence of t least 1 cardiologist in the county. However, in addition to half the counties having none, 10% of the counties have exactly one.

The new research found that people in counties with a cardiologist drive an average of 16 miles round trip for an appointment, compared to an 87-mile round trip, on average, for people without a local cardiologist.

Allen Morgan of the National Rural Health Association said that treating patients virtually is a “workable solution moving forward.”

“This highlights the critical importance of expanding broadband in these communities and ensuring that we have enough telehealth platforms,” Morgan said. “We are never going to be able to get a sufficient number of cardiologists practicing in small towns across the U.S.” (NBC NEWS)

Tampon Analysis

As if there weren’t enough about which to be concerned.

A number of toxic metals including arsenic and lead have been detected in widely used tampons, a new study by the University of California, Berkeley has found.

Researchers purchased tampons from September 2022 to March 2023 from stores in New York City, Athens, and London and from two popular online retailers. They tested 30 tampons—made from cotton, rayon, viscose, or a mix of these materials—across 14 brands and 18 product lines, and found all 16 types of metal they were testing for in every product.

This is the first study to assess concentrations of metals in tampons, despite the potential for substantial vaginal absorption of metals and the widespread and frequent use of tampons among users.

An estimated 52 to 86% of Americans who menstruate use tampons. There is no “safe” level for any of the metals researchers tested for, the study said. Toxic metals are particularly dangerous if they come into direct contact with the vagina, where they are more easily absorbed. Chronic metal absorption has been linked to increased risk of dementia, cancer, infertility, and other health issues. However, the study did not measure absorption in the body and so the study makes no comment on any potential health risks.

The level of metal detected in each tampon varied according to whether they were sold in the U.S., U.K., or E.U. There was also variance in metal levels depending on whether the tampons were organic or non-organic.

The authors wrote that some metals may be more “more abundant” in organic cotton tampons due to the use of fertilizers prevalent in the soil of organic cotton fields. (Time)

Resources

Find My Elected Officials

Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website

Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List

Important Healthcare Resources

League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit

Organizations to Contact

National Nurses United Medicare4All

Physicians for a National Health Program

One Payer States

Healthcare Now

Reproductive Health

NARAL - Pro Choice America

Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion

Planned Parenthood

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.

United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.

Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.

If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org