A coalition of organizations representing pharmacies and pharmacists across all practice settings sent a letter on Dec. 4 to Congressional leadership urging that the U.S. Congress act without delay and enact this year the must-pass pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms in Medicare and Medicaid that have advanced on a bipartisan, bicameral basis.

The multi-association coalition, made up of the following groups — the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, FMI – The Food Industry Association, the National Grocers Association and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations — stated the following in their letter:

We write – firmly united – as pharmacies and pharmacists across all practice settings.

We extend our deepest gratitude and strongest encouragement for the U.S. Congress’ continued bipartisan scrutiny of the practices of some market-dominant pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) middlemen that inflate Americans’ prescription drug costs, force pharmacy closures, and block access to Americans’ pharmacies of choice.

Speaking with one voice, we also urge the U.S. Congress to send to the President’s desk this year the must-pass PBM reforms in Medicare and Medicaid that would at long last confront these harmful practices, and that have advanced on a bipartisan basis in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 5378, the “Lower Costs, More Transparency Act”) and the Senate Finance Committee (S. 2973, the Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability (MEPA) Act” and S.3430, the “Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders (BETTER) Act of 2023”).

Throughout the 118^th Congress, our organizations and individual members have provided examples and insights about concerning PBM practices and their harms. Pharmacies and pharmacists have experienced and warned about these tactics for upwards of 15 years. Unabated and unchecked by federal action, these tactics and their devastating effects have escalated consistently and severely – and they have reached even new extremes in 2024.

As is now widely known, every day that passes without reform means more dollars flowing to PBMs instead of reducing Americans’ prescription drug costs and safeguarding access to trusted and convenient pharmacies.

Thankfully, recognition of some dominant PBMs’ devastating practices today is prevalent among Republicans and [ READ MORE ]

NACDS continues to urge the vital need for reforms at the federal level that will prevent “pharmaceutical benefit manipulation” across all markets – Medicare, Medicaid and commercial.

Report: “The Committee’s findings indicate that the present role of PBMs in prescription drug markets is failing and requires change”

NACDS urges “tenacity” by House Oversight and Accountability Committee in its hearing and investigation.