(Washington, D.C.) — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), today, released a new report outlining the PBM (pharmacy benefit manager) industry’s vision and commitment for improving equity in the health care system.

“PBMs’ mission has always been straightforward: providing affordable access to prescription drugs for everyone. But today, too many in our Black, Brown, indigenous, and other communities of color; individuals living with disabilities; and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community experience a range of health inequities and disparities in care,” said JC Scott, PCMA President and CEO. “We have been encouraged to see other stakeholders engage in identifying solutions to these inequities, and today we add our voice to this vital effort. We are committed to taking action as an industry to support policies that advance a more equitable, patient-centered health care system, reduce disparities in clinical outcomes, and improve the quality and affordability of pharmaceutical care for all.”

“Working Together for a More Equitable Health Care System” highlights four PBM industry goals as well as calls out specific solutions and outlines how PBMs are currently taking action in each area:

• Address disparities in access, disease burden, and outcomes. Inequities and disparities affect every aspect of health—from access to care to disease burden to outcomes. PBMs are advancing a range of strategies to improve alignment between the accessibility and experience of care and individual patients’ needs, preferences, and goals.
• Promote equitable, affordable pharmacy benefit design. PBMs are helping employers and other drug coverage sponsors advance equitable care through patient-centered quality improvement initiatives in areas of clinical vulnerability and disparities, such as diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.
• Invest in meaningful, data, evidence, and measurement. Without accurate and up-to-date data, it is difficult to identify the individual factors that drive disparities and how best to address them. PBMs are actively investing in and advancing new ways to use available data and other indicators to advance equitable care.
• Create a culture of equity and patient-centered care. The quality, affordability, and accessibility of pharmaceutical care should not differ because of an individual’s personal circumstance, nor should their health care. The PBM industry is committed to sustained industry action on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within our own workplaces; in partnership with stakeholders across our shared health care system; and in collaboration on behalf of patients with drug coverage sponsors, health care prescribers, and pharmacists.

Click here to read the full report: “Working Together for a More Equitable Health Care System.”

Click here to read the Executive Summary of the report.

Click here to read PCMA’s organizational commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity.

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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).  PBMs administer prescription drug plans for more than 266 million Americans who have health insurance from a variety of sponsors including:  commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, union plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), state government employee plans, Medicaid plans, and others.