Pharmacy Benefit Manager, Mifepristone, Water Consumption, Police, Government

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Praise to Attorney General Keith Ellison and the other state attorneys general for investigating the unfair and dangerous business practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) (“Attorneys General Want Supreme Court to Review PBM Case,” June 12). In the article, the spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) proclaimed, “Requiring plan sponsors to include unsafe or inefficient pharmacies in their provider networks and prohibiting health insurers from using common cost-containment tools like preferred networks will increase prescription drug costs for plans and patients.” The association does not regulate or decide which pharmacies are safe or unsafe. Pharmacies are regulated by state boards of pharmacy, which close them if they are deemed “unsafe.”

As for PBMs having to accept “inefficient” pharmacies into their networks, of the 521 independent pharmacies that existed in Minnesota in 2002, nearly 80% of these dedicated entrepreneurs providing health care services to their communities were apparently “inefficient” — only about 120 remain. It’s hard to be efficient when the drug manufacturer/wholesaler controls what you pay and the PBMs control what you get paid.

The net effect is that local pharmacies lose money on about 50% of the prescriptions they dispense. The net winners in this game are the PBMs, who take money from manufacturers, wholesalers, insurance companies, government contracts, and local and health care pharmacies. The net losers: you and I, who pay more (through premiums and copayments) for less access to prescriptions, vaccinations, and pharmacy services.

Jason Varin, Eden Prairie

The author is a pharmacist.

MIFEPRISTON

If you have such worries, then …

Today I listened to Republicans defend ending the use of mifepristone in abortions (“Judges Uphold Broad Access to Abortion Pill,” front page, June 14). They talked about some of the rare but significant and dangerous health consequences of its use. This argument demands an answer. If Republicans are so concerned about the health of pregnant women and their babies, why don’t they work even harder to make sure all mothers and babies have adequate health care? Or any health care at all? Such policies would do far more to prevent the deaths of babies and mothers.

Joan Felice, Roseville

WATER CONSUMPTION

A priceless resource is being exploited

“Elko New Market Agrees to More Water Pumps” (June 14): We’re supposed to pipe our Minnesota water to another state and subsidize the project to the tune of $3 million? Where is the head of the Department of Natural Resources who will allow this to happen? Doesn’t she realize that water is the gold of the 21st century? And everyone will want it. We saw this already when there was a proposal a few years ago to pipe water from Minnesota to the Southwest. Climate change is the greatest risk of the near future, and water is at the heart of the coming conflict.

Duane Dana White, Edina

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE

Not all mistakes are misconduct

It seems the greed for what’s left of the Minneapolis Police Department will never end. “Police cover up misconduct with secret procedures,” the Star Tribune announced on May 30.

Two examples of this misconduct in history are the accidental discharge of a gun at the police station and a released sniffer dog attacking a civilian. I have a feeling this is not the first firearm that has been accidentally discharged at a police station. I have a feeling this is not the first time a police dog has attacked someone. These examples are not misconduct, they are preventable mistakes. They show exactly where the officer’s guidance is the correct response.

My uncle was a police officer in Minneapolis and he wasn’t a perfect person. But he was a good police officer. What I’m saying is that even though these people are well trained, they make mistakes because they’re human. Teachers, plumbers, mayors, parents, reporters, and nuclear physicists all make mistakes. They can learn and get better at what they do.

When these mistakes happen, mentoring is the best way to deal with them. If a police officer’s actions truly constitute misconduct, they should be treated as such with the appropriate response and documentation. Bring on the derogatory headlines.

You know, there are good and honest people trying to rebuild the Minneapolis police department these days. It’s not easy. The police department used to have about 850 officers, but only about 500 are left to keep the city safe and help people. This surviving cohort is on a mission to revive the police department from the abyss of the killing of George Floyd. They need support, not scary headlines and superficial reporting.

Al Zdon, Mounds View

GOVERNMENT

Notable omissions to be highlighted

There are two recent examples of leadership failures in the DFL party: State Senator Nicole Mitchell and her early morning arrest in Detroit Lakes, and Education Commissioner Willie Jett, whose department oversaw one of the largest COVID fraud cases in the country. (Jett took over the agency in 2023.)

I presided over the commissioning of USS Minnesota (SSN 783) in 2013 and USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) in 2022 in Duluth. I have met the eight commanding officers of both ships. If any of them had failed as badly as Jett or Mitchell, they would have been relieved of command immediately.

When you choose a leadership role, you are accountable for the actions of your team. In Jett’s case, he willingly accepted the position and the responsibilities that come with it. (Opinion editor’s note: The fraud case involves refunds made by the federal government and overseen by the state Department of Education before and during the pandemic. Jett took over the department in 2023 and defended it during a hearing at the State Capitol last week.) The Walz administration must demand his resignation and fire him if he doesn’t.

Mitchell is also a Lt. Colonel in the Wisconsin Air National Guard and serves in a command capacity. I am baffled as to why she has not been relieved. In the case of the military and Mitchell, her command is responsible for her relief. I suspect her command is awaiting the outcome of the criminal charges, but the fact of her arrest and the 911 transcript should be enough for relief. In the Navy, a commanding officer of a guided missile submarine was immediately relieved after being convicted of drunk driving. No mercy and no waiting around the criminal justice system. A former commanding officer of the USS Minnesota now owns that boat.

Leadership takes responsibility for the roles assigned to it. The failure of the Senate DFL caucus to immediately fire Mitchell and the Walz administration’s failure to fire Jett are difficult to understand.

Brian D. Skon, St. Michael

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The inefficiency of government programs in the COVID era should not surprise us; it is actually to be expected (“Audit finds agency wrong on COVID payroll,” June 12). Deep down, we have all resigned ourselves to the fact that our state government will spend $80 million to deliver a service worth $20 million, and that our federal government will spend $80 billion to deliver a service (or weapon) worth $20 billion—and with borrowed money, no less.

Jack Kohler, Plymouth

URBAN-COUNTRY TENSIONS

Let’s widen the gap that matters

Regarding the column about the obnoxious lout in a small-town restaurant (“A tourist made a country stewardess cry. Don’t be that guy,” June 10), why don’t we use this story to create unity between urban and rural Minnesotans and agree that the guy was a Chicago jerk?

Clay Gustafson, Minneapolis