NACDS - National Association of Chain Drug Stores Inc.

25/07/2024 | Press release | Archived content

In Case You Missed It: NACDS Amplifies Major Congressional Hearing and Report Fueling ‘PBM Reform Now’

Pharmacists seated at the July 23 PBM hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee/Photo Credit: Imagine Photography

Bipartisan momentum continues for what NACDS is calling "must-pass" PBM reforms in the 118th Congress.

On Tuesday, July 23, top executives of the "big three" PBMs were called to testify at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

That same day, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee released a report which described the Committee's "findings that PBMs inflate prescription drug costs and interfere with patient care for their own financial benefit."

Read powerful statements from NACDS and allies…

  • NACDS and Pharmacy Coalition: "We write - firmly united - as pharmacies and pharmacists across all practice settings…" Read it now…
  • NACDS warns that PBMs will "cling to long-ago-debunked talking points"Read it now…
  • NACDS on Congressional investigation report: "The U.S. Congress needs absolutely no further evidence to proceed with the PBM reforms in Medicare, Medicaid, and the commercial markets that now have bipartisan consensus…"Read it now…

NACDS showed in full force to communicate the vital need for reforms at the federal level that will prevent "pharmaceutical benefit manipulation" across all markets - Medicare, Medicaid and commercial.

Notably, through NACDS RxIMPACT, 30 pharmacists and other pharmacy representatives convened on Capitol Hill to attend Tuesday's hearing in-person, in their white coats, where they sat directly behind the PBM executives. Additionally, more than 1,600 advocates registered to watch the hearing virtually as part of a "PBM Patrol" watch party - a clear sign to Congress that their constituents are watching and a reminder of the urgency behind enacting reforms this year.

In Photos: July 23 House Oversight Hearing

Pharmacists prepare to enter the Rayburn House Office Building for the July 23 PBM hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee/Photo Credit: Imagine Photography

Pharmacists engage in the audience at the July 23 PBM hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee

In the Media:

"Drug Middlemen Push Patients to Pricier Medicines, House Probe Finds"

"Rep. Comer: Pharmacy benefit managers are price gouging and not saving patients money"

"Pharmacy benefit managers under fire in House hearing"

NACDS' seven-figure TV and digital advertising campaign maintains high visibility in Washington, D.C. and in key media markets around the country as these momentous developments play out.

Consistent with NACDS' collaboration with NCPA and others, NACDS also contributed to a full-page print ad coordinated by NCPA that ran in the Wall Street Journal, on the day of the hearing: