Host Chris Hobart and the cocktail crew sit down with Joe Shields, CEO of Transparency Rising (formerly Transparency Rx). The coalition now has 24 member companies, including more than a dozen transparent, pass-through PBMs that are fighting spread pricing and the Big Three's grip on the market.

Joe ran New Jersey's parole board and worked for three governors before he took on PBMs. In this episode he covers:

• Transparency washing: PBM executives testified under oath that they pass through 100% of rebates. The next day, CVS settled for $43 million with an Illinois teachers' and community college plan, and it kept the contract.

• Rebate aggregators: offshore GPOs, safe harbor games, and why pharmacy data traveling to Dublin should worry everyone.

• The CAA and the coming DOL rules: why they work as one continuum, and why PCMA's sudden love for a law it opposed doesn't add up.

• "Market-derived income": the consultant revenue stream buried in 10-Ks that may explain the Big Three's 93–95% retention rates.

• PCMA's record ad spend: taking pharma's money while blaming pharma for drug prices.

Plus: Monique gets "unregistered" from a PBM conference, Andrew is fresh off an elk hunt, UnitedHealthcare's AI calls a pharmacy to refill a prescription for a deceased patient, and Chris defends the honor of gorillas everywhere.

Hosts: Chris Hobart, Andrew Russell, Monique Whitney, and Kendra Korthauer

Special Guest: Joe Shields, CEO Transparency Rising

Music by JuliusH | Production & Editing by Shannon Wightman-Girard