Hugh Chancy

HAHIRA — The owner of a South Georgia pharmacy chain spent last week in Washington, D.C., as part of an industry lobbying group tackling the spiraling costs of prescription drugs.

Hugh Chancy of Hahira, owner of Chancy Drugs, was part of a 12-person Georgia delegation for the National Community Pharmacy Association, representing America’s almost 22,000 independent drug stores.

“We all got together for a day and a half in Washington to talk to representatives and senators,” he said.

Among the Georgia lawmakers’ offices they visited were those of Rep. Austin Scott and Sen. David Perdue, Chancy said.

The growing cost of prescription drugs has some players who are not obvious to the public, he said.

“The general public wants to blame pharmaceutical manufacturers, and they are partly to blame,” Chancy said, “but a big part of the problem is ‘hidden middlemen’ — pharmacy benefit managers.”

A pharmacy benefit manager is a third-party firm which manages prescription drug programs for insurance health plans, both commercial and government-backed.

PBMs manage the majority of all prescriptions in the U.S., Chancy said. They determine what drugs and services are covered on prescription plans, what prices are paid and bill the government or private insurers, he said.

There are three major PBMs, Chancy said. 

“You look on the stock exchange and they are the ones with the big profits,” he said.

As an example, he cited a manufacturer whose once-$100 drug has been pushed to $600 by pharmacy benefits managers. 

“(At $600) the manufacturer is not making much more than he did at $100,” he said. “Most is going to the PBM middleman.”

Chancy plans to return to D.C. in August, not to lobby but to attend an industry board meeting.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.