Rep. Auchincloss and Senator Warren Join with Republicans in Introducing Bipartisan Bill to Cut Drug Costs, Rein in Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)

On Wednesday, December 11th in Washington, a bipartisan, bicameral effort to prohibit joint ownership of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacies was introduced by Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), alongside Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO). The Patients Before Monopolies Act would address the problem of what the legislators call a gross conflict of interest, where companies are enriched at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies. 

“The PBM industry is rife with self-dealing that raises costs for patients and bankrupts independent pharmacists. No PBM should be allowed to own pharmacies, because it poses an unacceptable conflict of interest when it then sets reimbursement rates for its own versus external pharmacies. Independent pharmacies deserve fair play,” said Representative Auchincloss.

The Patients Before Monopolies Act would address the conflict of interest in PBM ownership of pharmacies by:

• Barring a parent company of a PBM or an insurer from owning a pharmacy business;
• Providing that violators of the act could be ordered to divest from their pharmacy businesses and disgorge revenue received during the period of violation;
• Directing the Federal Trade Commission to distribute any disgorged revenue to harmed communities, including consumers who have been overcharged at vertically integrated pharmacies.
• Allowing the FTC to review all divestitures and subsequent acquisitions to protect competition, financial viability, and the public interest.

“PBMs have manipulated the market to enrich themselves — hiking up drug costs, cheating employers, and driving small pharmacies out of business. My new bipartisan bill will untangle these conflicts of interest by reining in these middlemen,” said Senator Warren.

“As a life-long pharmacist, I know first-hand how unchecked PBM consolidation and vertical integration have allowed these shadowy middlemen to self-deal and manipulate the system in ways that are driving up drug costs, limiting patient choices, and putting the financial screws to independent community pharmacies,”said Representative Harshbarger. “I’m a proud conservative Republican, but we have antitrust laws for a reason."

Thanks to the Office of Congressman Jake Auchincloss for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.

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