This podcast is part of a series unpacking harmful pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices. The series will inform listeners about PBMs’ influence over nearly all aspects of patient care and the profession of pharmacy. The series will also identify key resources and strategies enabling pharmacy professionals to engage in effective advocacy efforts to achieve meaningful PBM reform.
This episode provides a high-level overview of key findings and conclusions from the Federal Trade Commission’s Report Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug Costs and Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies. The speakers will also discuss how the report can be leveraged to fight back against PBM practices that strain patient affordability, jeopardize patient safety, and imperil pharmacy sustainability.
Kyle Robb, PharmD is director of State Policy & Advocacy at ASHP. Kyle supports ASHP members and State Affiliates as they seek to advance the practice of pharmacy through engagement with state government.
Prior to working at ASHP, Kyle was a pharmacist at the University of Virginia Health System and a health policy fellow on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. 
Tom Kraus, JD, MHS serves as the vice president of government relations for ASHP. Kraus previously served as the deputy staff director of health on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions under Senators Edward Kennedy and Tom Harkin, where he was instrumental in the passage of key legislation, including Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug and food safety reforms and user fee legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Affordable Care Act. Following his time on Capitol Hill, he joined the FDA, where he served as Chief of Staff and Associate FDA Commissioner for Legislation. 
