The Path to Patient Affordability
Here are six things that federal and state policymakers can do to help patients, pharmacies, and employers, while lowering prescription drug costs for everyone.
Encourage doctors to use electronic tools that show patients their lowest-cost drug options before they get to the pharmacy.
2Protect the viability of independent retail pharmacies by creating pathways for pharmacists to be paid for the clinical services they provide.
3Stop drug manufacturers from using anti-competitive practices like patent thickets to block generic drug competition.
4Promote competition by reducing the monopoly period for biologic drugs and allowing biosimilar substitution.
5Demand transparency for prices and the practices of prescription drug wholesalers and their affiliated companies.
6Rein in Big Pharma’s direct-to-consumer advertisements that drive up costs and mislead patients.
PBMs Have Transformed
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) have changed significantly in recent years to be more transparent and to more directly share the savings they deliver with patients and employers. The president and Congress also enacted historic PBM reform in 2026 that created a fully transformed industry. As a result:
With a full accounting of all prescription drug transactions, PBMs will be the most transparent segment of the drug supply chain.
Using the discounts to drive down patient costs, PBMs will pass on 100% of rebates to employers.
To support broad pharmacy networks, PBMs provide higher reimbursement to independent pharmacies than larger chain ones.
With a transformed PBM industry, policymakers should now turn their attention to The Path to Patient Affordability.