Pharmacy Organizations Call on U.S. Congress to Deliver PBM Reform This Year: “It Is Past Time for Action”

2024-12-06T10:05:53-05:00Categories: Press Release|Tags: , , , , , |

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 118th 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 Content Release Makes It Unmistakable: PBM Reform is ‘Must-Pass Legislation’ in 118th Congress

2024-11-21T14:25:50-05:00Categories: In Case You Missed It|Tags: , , , |

NACDS continues to urge the 118th Congress to finish the job on bipartisan PBM reform before year’s end.

In a post-election statement on Wednesday, Nov. 6, NACDS called on Congress to act without delay and enact “the reforms that will reduce Americans’ prescription drug costs, protect access to necessary medications and to pharmacies of choice, give pharmacies a chance against underhanded PBM tactics, and preserve the vitality of entire communities.” READ THE FULL STATEMENT

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, NACDS sent a “sponsored content release” to recipients of the Morning Consult Politics newsletter. The content release underscores the fact that most registered voters are looking to their members of Congress to produce a PBM reform law in 2024. Morning Consult’s Politics Newsletter engages an audience of 18,000 including leaders in the U.S. Congress and federal agencies, and in the media.

View the content release in its entirety. RELATED CONTENT

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