A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers is asking on the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) to vote in favor of releasing an interim workers report on pharmacy profit managers (PBM).
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), together with Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) and Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), wrote to the FTC in mild of an upcoming Jan. 14 open fee assembly to contemplate issuing a second interim workers report on PBMs.
“PBMs were originally created to handle the prescription drug benefit on behalf of health plans, negotiating directly with drug manufacturers and setting pharmacy networks for their contracted payers,” the lawmakers wrote.
“But over the years, these once little-known middlemen have morphed into giant, vertically-integrated conglomerates that control every link in the drug coverage and delivery chain, including pharmacies and health plans.”
The FTC launched its inquiry into PBMs in 2022. Final yr, the company launched its first interim workers report on PBMs which discovered that dominant, vertically built-in PBMs use their outsized market share to revenue off of sufferers and unbiased pharmacists.
FTC Chair Lina Khan mentioned on the time the report highlighted how PBMs “can squeeze independent pharmacies that many Americans — especially those in rural communities —depend on for essential care” and “hike the price of medication — together with overcharging sufferers for most cancers medication.
PBM reforms have been included in earlier drafts the federal government funding invoice final month, however have been finally not noted. The bundle would have included a ban on linking PBM compensation to a drug’s Medicare record value in addition to a requirement that PBMs “totally go by means of one hundred pc of drug rebates and reductions … to the employer or well being plan.”
The second workers interim report being thought of contains findings from the FTC’s examine on the contracting practices of PBMs.
This group of lawmakers who wrote to the FTC launched laws final month that might prohibit the joint possession of each PBMs and pharmacies, calling this apply a “gross conflict of interest.” They cited the FTC’s report final yr as having knowledgeable this invoice.
“We expect a second interim report will shine further light on the industry that will be invaluable to legislators as the policy priorities of the 119th Congress take shape,” they wrote.
“Accordingly, we urge FTC to issue its second interim staff report swiftly and continue investigating the serious effects of the PBM industry on patients, taxpayers, and independent pharmacies.”
The FTC’s open fee assembly shall be held nearly on Jan. 14 at 11 a.m. EST. Time shall be given for members of the general public to deal with the fee.
