NACDS: Urgent Need for PBM Reform Displayed Yet Again in Wall Street Journal

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is showcasing further evidence of the need for reforms at all-levels and all-branches of government to fix middlemen's "pharmaceutical benefit manipulation" that is gouging Americans and threatening their access to care.

A Wall Street Journal article with the headline "Medicare Pays Wildly Different Prices for the Same Drug" describes the ramifications of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) tactics:

• "America's complicated-and costly-system for paying for medicines"
• "People covered by Medicare can be on the hook for thousands of dollars in additional out-of-pocket costs depending on where they live and which drug plan they choose"
• "The reason for the huge price differences: America's complicated drug-reimbursement system, which uses middlemen to negotiate prices"
• "Critics say the PBMs can profit off the varying prices because Medicare can't keep track of all the different sums it is paying."

NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson said, "The Wall Street Journal provides the latest bombshell in a consistent and condemning barrage of media reports, government inquiries, and first-hand experiences of Americans and their pharmacies. Across ideologies, we have firm validation that PBMs are profiting exorbitantly and inappropriately not through a free market, but rather through an opaque and perverse scheme. Vulnerable, hard-working Americans are paying inflated prescription drug costs, they are being further distanced from their care, and the pharmacies that serve them in neighborhoods across America are being forced to close their doors."

Anderson continued, "Newspapers including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have chronicled the devastating effects of PBMs. U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) has led a revealing investigation of these middlemen, with the bipartisan engagement and agreement of Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD). We see alignment in the concerns and findings of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and of the PBM study conducted by the Federal Trade Commission. On a bipartisan basis the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and others have passed PBM reforms that now are ready to go."

Calling for immediate action, Anderson urged, "American voters say it best, with two-thirds agreeing that Congress should consider PBM reform legislation to be 'must-pass legislation' before concluding its work in 2024. Every branch and level of government needs to do its part to bring about comprehensive reform. Similarly, Massachusetts needs to take action on its PBM reforms this year. Throughout the states, we have seen more than 150 new PBM reform laws over the past three years. But without every branch and every level of government doing its part, PBM tactics will be allowed to morph and shift to the points of least resistance, and harm Americans who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, and the commercial markets for their care."

Anderson concluded, "We commend this Wall Street Journal article to the immediate attention - and for the immediate action - of all those charged with the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of Americans."

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