Wait, what’s a PBM (and how do they work)?

If you’ve been told your insurance won’t cover your meds — or that you’re gonna have to pay an arm and a leg for them — you’ve met a PBM: a pharmacy benefits manager. And: Experts say they play a big role in jacking up drug prices overall. But how, exactly? We took a deep dive.This episode first went out in 2019. We’re bringing it back because PBMs are in the news these days: Congress is targeting them, in an effort to to be seen doing something about prescription drug prices. And PBMs’ sometimes-rival, the powerful pharmaceutical industry lobby, is flooding the airwaves with ads attacking them. There’s been a little news since 2019: Although Congress is still catching up, all 50 states have passed some laws pertaining to how PBMs work. We’ve got an update on that. Here’s a transcript of this episode. Send your stories and questions. Or call 724 ARM-N-LEG.And of course we’d love for you to support this show.Correction: A previous version of this episode misidentified the parent company of Express Scripts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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An Arm and a Leg is a podcast about why health care costs so freaking much and what we can (maybe) do about it. If you’ve ever been surprised by a medical bill, you’re in good company. But as our team of seasoned journalists has learned from years of reporting — you’re not always helpless. We don’t have all the answers, but we’ll offer you tools and big picture insights with plenty of humor and heart.  An Arm and a Leg is co-produced with KFF Health News and distributed in partnership with KUOW. You can support An Arm and a Leg by donating at armandalegshow.com/support/ Show Credits: Created, hosted, and produced by Dan Weissmann with senior producer Emily Pisacreta and engagement producer Claire Davenport, edited by Ellen Weiss. Audio wizard: Adam Raymonda. Music is by Dave Weiner and Blue Dot Sessions. Bea Bosco is our consulting director of operations. Lynne Johnson is our operations manager.