U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and a bipartisan contingent of 33 senators are calling for their chamber’s leadership to rein in pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices that hurt patients and pharmacies.
Sen. Capito and the lawmakers asked that “critically needed” PBM reforms be included in any legislative vehicle that may be brought up for a vote at the end of the 118th Congress, according to a Dec. 12 letter they sent to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Several proposed bills have already been passed in a number of committees in both houses of Congress that would increase transparency, realign incentives for PBMs and patients, ensure pharmacies are adequately reimbursed, and ensure that patients benefit from decreased drug costs, wrote the senators.
“To not advance these important policies before the end of this Congress would be a waste of substantial progress made and would deny patients and pharmacists across the country the relief they deserve,” they wrote.
Sen. Capito and her colleagues pointed out that there were over 300 independent pharmacy net closures in 2023, a trend that has grown in 2024.
“Pharmacies across the country have been forced to close their doors because PBMs have continued to reimburse them significantly less than it costs the pharmacy to even purchase the drug,” wrote the lawmakers. “This is unsustainable, especially for small family businesses. The impacts of these closures only hurt already-struggling communities by decreasing the number of quality health care providers and likely increasing costs for seniors.”
Should any long-term policy priorities be attached to an end-of-year spending package, PBM reforms should be included, they wrote.