Washington, DC-The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement opposing efforts in the US Senate to impose a “PBM tax” on prescription drug benefits:

“The goal of health reform is to reduce, not increase, people’s health care costs.  It’s wrong to impose a new tax on people’s prescription drug benefits during these dire economic times.  This tax would increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs for consumers and the unions and employers who provide their benefits.”

“Throughout the entire health care reform debate, PBMs have been at the forefront of efforts to help Congress and the Administration advance bipartisan policies that lower the cost of prescription drugs for working families, seniors, and public and private payers.

PCMA has supported fully closing the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole’ coverage gap, expanding access to generic alternatives of high-cost biologics, and promoting lower-cost generics in Medicare Part D.  In doing so, we have set forth an agenda that builds on a proven delivery model that balances real cost containment with broad choice and access.

“It makes no sense to try and ‘fill the donut hole’ by increasing the prescription drug costs of the very people the policy is meant to help in the ‘donut hole’ and millions of others who need affordable benefits.”