ODM hires PBM watchdog

The Ohio Department of Medicaid completed its revamp of the pharmacy benefit manager program Wednesday by awarding a contract to a company that will serve as a watchdog (Source: “As part of revamp, Ohio Medicaid hires watchdog for state-run pharmacy benefits manager,” Columbus Dispatch, April 14).

Indianapolis firm Myers and Stauffer will be paid an average of $1.5 million a year under a two-year pact that has an additional six optional years. The price tag if the deal remains in place for the entire eight years would be $12 million.

The new firm — which already manages the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost database for the federal government — essentially will act as a watchdog on a state-run PBM.

The restructuring is expected to take effect in early January. It replaces a setup that has Medicaid-hired managed-care organizations hire the pharmacy benefit managers, which act as middlemen in the drug supply chain.