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Last week marked an important milestone as President Trump signed a bipartisan bill that includes several key provisions to hold PBMs accountable. After many years of countless voices sounding the alarm on PBMs’ role in driving up prescription drug costs, federal policymakers have taken a meaningful step to curb abusive PBM practices and begin repairing a prescription drug pricing system that has failed patients, communities and pharmacies for far too long.   Patients and ca

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee’s latest hearing, Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of the Prescription Drug Supply Chain , made clear that historic PBM reform is only a first step, not the finish line.   Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) highlighted how the drug supply chain has seen significant vertical integration across insurers and wholesalers that now own and operate provider groups, pharmacy services, GPOs, pharmacies and even w

Ahead of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee's hearing on “Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans” today, PBM Accountability Project Managing Director Mark Blum sent a letter to thank members for their work to advance comprehensive reforms of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and other insurance middlemen, and continued efforts to lower healthcare costs and ensure access to prescription medicines. “Your hearing series on healthcare affordability is a critic

Congress passed and President Trump signed a bipartisan spending bill today with several key provisions to hold pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) accountable. Mark Blum, managing director of the PBM Accountability Project, issued the following statement:   “Today’s passage of PBM reform legislation marks an important milestone in our fight to make the prescription drug system more transparent, accountable and affordable for hardworking Americans. The PBM reforms in the spendi

The House Energy and Commerce and House Ways and Means Committees recently held hearings on the rising cost of healthcare, shining a spotlight on how PBMs and insurers are driving out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions and why reform is urgently needed.   Members from both parties agree that PBMs and other insurance middlemen are limiting access and raising costs. As Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) emphasized in his opening remarks the lack of transparency and complexity of t

The U.S. House of Representatives today advanced the bipartisan spending bill with several PBM reforms. Mark Blum, managing director of the PBM Accountability Project, issued the following statement: “Today’s House vote advances long-overdue PBM reforms that rein in abusive corporate middlemen practices, marking a critical step toward making healthcare more affordable for Americans. The Senate must now act without delay to put patients over profiteers and send this package t

The House Judiciary Committee today released an interim staff report " When CVS Writes the Rules: How CVS Protects Itself From Innovation and Competition ," unveiling how CVS Health leveraged its PBM and adjusted its business practices to eliminate independent pharmacy competition. As the Committee's press release points out, "CVS Health's own CEO characterized his company's actions best by writing: 'another example of a large PBM not allowing the small guys to compete.'" To

Congressional leaders released a bipartisan spending bill with several key provisions to lower out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions, increase transparency, and support patients and independent pharmacies that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have long taken advantage of. Mark Blum, managing director of the PBM Accountability Project, issued the following statement:   “We are pleased to see Congress put forward a spending package that finally begins to take on the most power

President Trump recently called upon Congress to enact “The Great Healthcare Plan ,” legislation aimed at reducing healthcare costs for Americans, in part, by targeting the practices of big health insurance companies and their affiliated pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBM Accountability Project Managing Director Mark Blum issued the following statement:    “We commend the Trump Administration for insisting that Congress make healthcare affordability a priority in 2026. We

The PBM Accountability Project members and partners are highlighting a shared concern: PBMs and vertically integrated insurers are creating real barriers to patient affordability and access.  Watch new video testimonials underscor ing the urgent need for meaningful PBM reform: Emma Freer, Senior Health Policy Analyst, American Economic Liberties Project   How has vertical integration in the health insurance industry affected patient choice, medication access and drug pricing

A new investigation by Hunterbrook takes a closer look at little-known subsidiaries, known as group purchasing organizations (GPOs), in the U.S. prescription drug market.   As the PBM Accountability Project has previously called out since the first GPO was established in 2020, these shell companies were created by major health insurers and affiliated PBMs, allowing these conglomerates to quietly keep billions meant to lower employers’ and patients’ drug costs, even while p

(OptumRx, owned by UnitedHealth Group)   It’s been well reported that the top three PBMs control nearly 80% of all U.S. prescription drug claims . They were originally established to negotiate prescription drug savings for patients, employers and taxpayers – and yet, Americans continue to face higher out-of-pocket costs for the medicines they need.    So, who are these PBMs and how can we separate fact from fiction?    Let’s take a closer look at the Big Three corporate middl