The Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act will bring meaningful reforms to help lower out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs
This week, Representatives Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) introduced H.R. 2880, the Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act, to protect patients and pharmacies from the harmful and opaque business practices of the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. The legislation comes after several congressional hearings, investigations and efforts intended to address the high out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs and to hold PBMs accountable. H.R. 2880 will delink PBM compensation from the cost of medications, ban patient steering and spread pricing, increase transparency, and address PBM conflicts of interest.
Mark Blum, managing director of the PBM Accountability Project, issued the following statement:
“We have always believed that Congress has both a responsibility and opportunity to eliminate PBMs’ perverse incentives to raise, rather than lower, prescription drug prices. This legislation is a major step forward and will directly benefit patients. We thank Representatives Carter, Blunt Rochester, Malliotakis and Auchincloss for their leadership on this important issue.
“We must address the games PBMs play at the expense of hardworking Americans. We have seen time and time again how the predatory practices employed by PBMs impact patients and drive up costs at the pharmacy counter. We hope this legislation advances swiftly through Congress to provide relief and improve accessibility to the best pharmacy care possible for all Americans.”
To learn more about the PBM issue and legislative solutions, visit pbmaccountability.org.