Host Andrew Russell, PUTT Executive Director Monique Whitney, and cocktail crew regulars Chris Hobart and Kendra Korthauer dig into a patient access story that's flown under the radar: a mid-year contract dispute between long-term care PSAO/GPO MHA and PBM giant Optum. Joining them are two long-term care (LTC) pharmacy owners who lived it firsthand - Matt Ansay, PharmD (Streu's Pharmacy, Green Bay, WI) and Philip Hommerding, PharmD (Hunt Silver Lake Drug and Gift, MN).

In this episode:

• How closed-door, long-term care pharmacy differs from community pharmacy - blister packs, after-hours delivery, and PSAO bargaining power

• The MHA/Optum dispute blow-by-blow: a mid-cycle contract termination, arbitration, patient and facility chaos, and the misinformation pharmacies say they had to fight through

• Why network adequacy gave MHA more leverage than Optum wanted anyone to know about

• A troubling "patient choice" workaround: facilities charging residents hundreds of dollars a month to use the pharmacy they actually want

• A wider look at Optum's banking operations, enforcement gaps in state PBM reform laws, and more Optum "#$@!"

• A preview of PUTT's September 23rd Virtual Summit on PBM laws enforcement

Notable quote: "These patients don't get to walk or make choices with their feet." - Philip Hommerding, PharmD, on what LTC patients face when caught in the middle of a contract dispute

Learn more and get involved: TruthRx.org

#PBMOTR #podcast

Music by JuliusH | Production & Editing by Shannon Wightman-Girard