House com­mit­tee takes on PBMs as bi­par­ti­san sup­port for wider re­forms grows

The House Over­sight Com­mit­tee on Tues­day sought to frame what in­creas­ing­ly looks like ma­jor in­com­ing re­forms for phar­ma­cy ben­e­fit man­agers, with leg­is­la­tion com­ing from both the House and Sen­ate and across par­ti­san bound­aries, with most of the blame on pa­tients’ con­tin­ued high out-of-pock­et costs di­rect­ed at these mid­dle­men.

List­ed as “Part I,” the com­mit­tee hear­ing on the role of PBMs in pre­scrip­tion drug mar­kets of­fered few in­stances where PBMs de­fend­ed the sav­ings they claim to save pa­tients. Even Greg Bak­er, a pan­elist at the hear­ing and CEO of the PBM Af­firme­dRx, sought to throw his larg­er peers — the top three PBMs con­trol 80% of the mar­ket — un­der the bus.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER