All Episodes
|
187
|
Dr. Alan Pannier

Podcast 187: The Truth About PBMs and Drug Pricing w/ Dr. Alan Pannier

Aug 22, 2025

Episode Summary

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play a pivotal role in drug pricing, yet their practices often remain shrouded in a black box of rebates, spread pricing, and misaligned incentives. In this installment of our Pharma Series, Alan Pannier, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at SmithRx, breaks down how legacy PBMs use opaque contracts and vertical integration to drive up costs, why employers are beginning to push back, and how transparent, cost-based models are reshaping the future of pharmacy benefits.

Episode Notes

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play a pivotal role in drug pricing, yet their practices often remain shrouded in a black box of rebates, spread pricing, and misaligned incentives. In this installment of our Pharma Series, Alan Pannier, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at SmithRx, breaks down how legacy PBMs use opaque contracts and vertical integration to drive up costs, why employers are beginning to push back, and how transparent, cost-based models are reshaping the future of pharmacy benefits.

🎙 ABOUT ALAN PANNIER
Alan Pannier, Pharm D,MBA has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a background in managed care pharmacy. Alan has held various leadership positions at companies such as SmithRx, Magellan Health, and Veridicus Health. Alan completed their Doctorate of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration at Idaho State University, following a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at Westminster University.

🎙 ABOUT HEALTH CARE ROUNDS
Health Care Rounds is a weekly podcast developed for health care leaders who are at the forefront of health care delivery and payment reform. Join Darwin Research Group founder and CEO John Marchica as he discusses the latest advancements in health care business news and policy developments.

CONNECT WITH US:

🌐 Visit us on the web

🌐 Follow Health Care Rounds on LinkedIn

🌐 Follow Darwin Research Group on LinkedIn

📺 Watch Health Care Rounds on YouTube

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts

🎧 Listen on Spotify

⚙️ Health Care Rounds is produced by Grippi Media

Recommended Next

Podcast 215: Real Health Care Happens Between Doctor Visits w/ Wei-Li Shao, President, Omada Health
Podcast 214: Mailbag: Debunking Vaccines Myths
Podcast 213: Health Care's Affordability Crisis Is Getting Worse w/ Larry Levitt, CEO-Elect & EVP, KFF
Podcast 212: Are We Measuring Health Care Quality All Wrong? w/ Dr. Rachel Werner, Professor of Medicine, UPenn
Podcast 211: The State of Value-Based Health Care w/ John Marchica, Darwin Research Group
Podcast 210: Why Health Care Reform Keeps Falling Short w/ Dr. Elliott Fisher, Dartmouth Institute
Podcast 209: Inside the Rural Health Transformation Program w/ Dr. Tim Ferris, InterSystems
Podcast 208: The Affordability Crisis Behind Value-Based Care w/ Dr. Michael Chernew, Harvard

Recommended Content

Browse Library
INsights
August 17, 2026

Darwin's Our Take 8.17.26: Trump tries again to revise federal childhood vaccination recommendations

Read More
INsights
August 10, 2026

Darwin's Our Take 8.10.26: Summa Health names new CEO to lead next phase of HATCo's health assurance vision

Read More
INsights
August 3, 2026

Darwin's Our Take 8.3.26: Loss of ‘enhanced’ ACA subsidies hits IDNs harder than expected

Read More
Stay Aware. Stay Informed.

Subscribe to Our Take

Sign up for Our Take Newsletter: highly curated, expert weekly strategic insights for health care executives.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.