Georgia’s Prescription-Drug Costs Rise in the Shadows

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Aug 25, 2021
Key Points
  • Behind-the-scenes companies profited by $89 million on Medicaid drugs in Georgia from 2017 to 2019.
  • State law tackles some – but not all – of the root causes of rising medication costs.
  • Critics accuse the entire system of being rigged to keep drug prices high.
Why prescription-drug costs have soared in recent years remains unknown for millions of Georgians, largely due to a complex web of interactions between behind-the-scenes companies. Drugmakers are far from the only players in the complex system that has led to higher medication prices and costs in Georgia since 2010. State lawmakers have recently singled out intermediary companies called pharmacy benefit managers as a major influence in rising prescription-drug costs. Those companies have faced lawsuits in several states and new regulations in Georgia ...