Third-Party Administrators – The Middlemen Of Self-Funded Health Insurance

Pharmacy benefit managers have received significant public attention for their exploitative, cost increasing practices, but similar practices of third-party administrators (TPAs) have received relatively little public attention. In their latest piece for Health Affairs Forefront, Karen Handorf, Christine Monahan, and Kennah Watts argue that understanding TPA business models and how they generate profits requires looking under the hood at their agreements with health care providers and other third-party intermediaries.