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* From the Chicago Tribune print edition…
* To the editorial…
In Gov. JB Pritzker’s Illinois budget address on Feb. 19, he lamented the decline of small-town independent pharmacies like those of Michelle Dyer, who abruptly closed three stores in rural Macoupin County during 2022, transferring their prescriptions to Walgreens.
As Pritzker described it, the reason for Dyer’s abrupt shut-down wasn’t competition from rival stores and online pharmacies but rather the actions of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. These are middlemen, acting on behalf of health insurers in negotiations with pharmacies and drugmakers. Retailers say they threaten the future of independent drugstores and the giant Walgreens alike.
The truth? More complicated than most anyone might think. And as for solving the problem of high drug costs, Pritzker’s proposal for a new bureaucracy empowered to set maximum prices faces a rocky road in Illinois and in other states that are trying it.
With his “Prescription Drug Affordability Act,” Pritzker envisions a blue-ribbon panel prying profits away from PBMs by capping prescription prices. But it’s unclear who would benefit in this highly integrated marketplace if a nanny state were to intervene. […]
The governor’s proposed “Affordability Board” would add another layer of complexity, potentially reducing access to cutting-edge drugs and likely facing a constitutional challenge if it followed through on fixing prices. And - do we really have to say it? — the last thing Illinois needs is yet another state board trying to control market forces the governor doesn’t like. For a couple of years now, the General Assembly has considered setting up one or these boards and, so far, opted to stay out of it. Here we go again.
Um, one problem: That’s not Pritzker’s proposal, it’s the Citizen Action proposal. The governor intends to introduce his own proposal without a state board.
* So, the Tribune rewrote the headline and the editorial, took out the remarks about Pritzker and appended this “Editor’s note” to the bottom of the piece…
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this editorial misstated that Gov. JB Pritzker supports creation of a state Prescription Drug Affordability Board that would rein in certain practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). According to the governor’s office, Pritzker does not now support legislation that would create such a board, but instead will support legislation to be introduced soon that will address PBM practices with no new state board.
[Headline explained here.]
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:16 pm
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“We don’t regret the error, and vow to learn nothing from it.”
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:19 pm
When I first heard about this I thought it was a slam dunk yes. Then after talking to a colleague at the Illinois Pharmacists Association, man is the devil in the details on this. It is workable with some adjustments, but this is a perfect example of how complex health care is.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:23 pm
I guess they just didn’t want to use “Dewey Beats Truman” again
Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:26 pm
The late great wordslinger often pointed out that the trib edit board appeared not to read their own newspaper. I am starting to wonder if they can read at all.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:26 pm
“Missed it by that much.”
Maxwell Smart
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:27 pm
Old enough to remember when the Trib was the reserved, measured older brother to the free-wheeling Sun Times.
Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:29 pm
Reminds me of the time they allowed CPD Supt. Snelling to “clarify” his op-ed about machine guns after they were informed post-publication that it flagrantly misstated the law. Instead of transparently correcting errors, the Tribune prefers to whitewash them.
Comment by charles in charge Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:31 pm
Even without the misattribution to Pritzker, that editorial is kind of a mess. While reading it, I found myself a couple of times wondering whether the Tribune wanted more regulation or not.
Comment by TNR Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:33 pm
Imagine if we just had one big insurance company for everyone that didn’t have a profit motive. I bet that would negotiate a lot of savings.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:35 pm
Nice distancing, the editorial didn’t misstate anything, the editorial board did and then failed to apologize for its sloppiness.
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:35 pm
The Trib Editorial Board has always been like this, only now, they have more templates to copy-paste, and fact-checking is for losers.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:51 pm
Is there such a thing as “editorial malfeasance?”
The editorial board cannot simply say, “we were mistaken?” Instead, they say “we were mistaken because the Governor didn’t say what we said he said, and now we are offering a convoluted retraction of what the Governor did not say to us but we assumed he did say.”
Adulting is hard, I guess.
Comment by H-W Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 12:54 pm
Tribbies gonna Tribbie.
Comment by Linus Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 1:01 pm
=Imagine if we just had one big insurance company for everyone that didn’t have a profit motive. I bet that would negotiate a lot of savings.=
Imagine having one rate schedule for all providers that didn’t have a profit motive. I bet that would negotiate a lot of savings.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 1:24 pm
This is what you get when you hire Illinois Policy Institute people to write editorials.
Comment by Squib Kick Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 1:47 pm
Thwy got rid of Kass and “Katrina” McQueary but continue to embarrass themselves.
Comment by Big Dipper Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 1:55 pm
I miss the days that I used to read the Tribune page-for-page and walk away feeling informed. Now I go to its website just a couple times a week out of curiosity what they’re trying to cover.
Emphasis on the word “trying.”
Comment by Just Me 2 Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 2:52 pm
==Thwy got rid of Kass and “Katrina” McQueary but continue to embarrass themselves.==
Very true. On the other hand, I once mentioned Kass name to someone around 30 years old and he had no idea who JKass was which made my day.
Comment by low level Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 3:01 pm
Not that they haven’t proven again and again that they don’t have the resources to truly understand the issues on which they opine, but the relatively recently addition of an IPI staffer to the ed board bench likely hasn’t helped matters.
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 3:10 pm
Why don’t we replace the bureaucracy in PBMs which are about corporate profits and replace it with a public board that balances costs and care.
Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 4:10 pm
And this is where I must step in and assert that, while disparagement of the paper’s editorial board is never unmerited, the Tribune’s under-staffed, under-paid and under-appreciated reportorial staff is still top-notch.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 4:27 pm
==which are about corporate profits==
That’s what’s wrong with our healthcare system. Profit motive. Healthcare shouldn’t be a for-profit model. And until you get rid of that model nothing will get better.
Comment by Demoralized Monday, Mar 3, 25 @ 4:29 pm