Gallego, Bipartisan Group Call for Reforms to Lower Drug Costs for Americans
WASHINGTON – Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) and a bipartisan group of over 50 of his colleagues have called on House leadership to enact pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms to reduce Americans’ prescription drug costs and protect pharmacy businesses across our country.
“We have an opportunity now to advance bipartisan legislation that saves significant taxpayer money in state Medicaid managed care programs and also – for the first time – enforce reasonable and relevant terms that support pharmacies’ ability to serve patients,” the members write. “Further, we are pleased to champion reporting requirements which would increase transparency by shining a light on the opaque drug pricing system PBMs rely on…There are few issues that unite members of the 118th Congress like reforms that result in savings and accountability.”
PBMs are the middlemen who negotiate drug prices for insurers. They are incentivized to steer health plans towards more expensive drugs because their profits are linked to the drug's list price.
In the letter, the members express their concern that, in addition to raising costs for patients at checkout, PBMs anti-competitive practices are putting pharmacies out of business and removing patients’ access to care. As they note, in 2023 there were over 300 independent pharmacy net closures, creating “pharmacy deserts” in rural and underserved communities.
Full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Background of Rep. Gallego’s Work to Lower Drug Costs for Hardworking Arizonans
In January, Rep. Gallego introduced a package of bills to require PBMs to report their drug prices and to hold Medicare Part D plan sponsors accountable for pressuring neighborhood pharmacies into accepting new, unfavorable contract and reimbursement terms.
To increase transparency in the health care sector, he is a cosponsor of the Promoting Access to Treatments and Increasing Extremely Needed Transparency (PATIENT) Act and voted for the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act when it passed the House of Representatives in December.
Rep. Gallego has also introduced the Lower Drug Costs for Families Act. The bill seeks to hold Big Pharma accountable for price gouging by requiring drug companies to pay a penalty if they raise prices faster than inflation.