Michael Staab

Michael J. Staab is co-CEO and co-founder of Innovative Rx Strategies. Michael, along with his business partner Greg Madsen, saw a need in the marketplace for a pharmacy benefits consulting company that had both the legal and business expertise to help employers, health plans, governmental entities and unions better understand the complexity of the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) world in an effort to help them lower their prescription drug costs. Michael is also the founder of the PBM and Pharmacy Law Group, the parent company of Innovative Rx Strategies. He is an experienced health care attorney and former litigator and has been included numerous times in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law.

Prior to starting Innovative Rx Strategies, Michael was the vice president of legal services and managing counsel for one of the country’s largest PBMs, CVS Caremark. He supervised the group that was responsible for drafting and negotiating all client contracts (employer, health plan, Medicare Part D). Michael personally negotiated PBM contracts with some of the largest and highest profile clients and was the project leader in charge of developing new contract templates for use by the Legal Department. As managing counsel, Michael served on numerous business committees, giving him a unique understanding of how PBM business operations impact the terms and conditions of a client contract. He counseled internal business partners on how to manage numerous PBM related legal and business issues involving retail, mail and specialty pharmacy operations, and routinely provided advice on health law regulatory matters involving the federal and state anti-kickback laws and applicable safe harbors, False Claims Act, HIPAA, Medicare Part D and Medicare/Medicaid billing issues. Prior to joining Caremark, Michael was partner and vice-chairman of the Health Law Department at the Chicago firm of Gardner, Carton & Douglas (now Drinker Biddle) where he concentrated his practice in the area of hospital mergers and acquisitions and representing hospitals in their day-to-day affairs.

In addition to Michael’s responsibilities with Innovative Rx Strategies and PBM and Pharmacy Law Group, Michael is a guest lecturer at Loyola University Law School in Chicago on the PBM industry, and he is a frequent speaker at national and regional HR conferences on pharmacy benefit issues. Michael currently serves as a board member of the Brain Injury Association of Illinois and the Drake University Law School Board of Counselors.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from Fort Hays State University in Hays, KS, and he received his J.D. from Drake University Law School in Des Moines, IA. He also has an LL.M. in Health Law form De Paul University College of Law in Chicago. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Idaho and Utah and is a member of the American Lawyers Association.