Yesterday, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association President and CEO David Marin joined The Hugh Hewitt Show for a wide-ranging discussion about the role PBMs play in lowering prescription drug costs, recent landmark PBM reform, and the growing need for Congress to finally address Big Pharma’s patent abuse.

Marin opened by explaining why PCMA is taking a more active role in public policy debates and industry conversations, including the launch of a new value campaign:

“We allowed others to distort and define our industry for way too long. So, we are simultaneously taking a lot of time to explain our value and what PBMs do—most people don’t know, despite the fact that we serve 289 million patients around the country.… So that’s what we’re going to change. We are changing. We’re going to be always on. We’ve launched a seven-figure ad campaign to make sure that we’re reaching the people that we need to reach.

The conversation also focused on the significant reforms already enacted this year. Marin highlighted the landmark federal PBM reform package that Congress passed, along with recent business model changes that have transformed the PBM industry:

“This is not the PBM industry of two, three, four years ago. We have a lot of self-initiated reforms, improvements, and changes that have come through our companies, but also importantly, significant reform legislation that the Congress passed back in January, which brings unprecedented levels of transparency to our companies, which delinks compensation from list price, which requires rebates to be fully passed through to the employer, to the plan sponsor, to the unions. So, I think the questions that existed around our industry have been answered.”

In discussing the future of drug pricing reform, Marin called for greater transparency across the entire pharmaceutical supply chain:

“The transparency that applies now to the PBM industry should apply across the chain, Hugh. It’s really important for people to understand how this sausage is made.”

He also argued that if policymakers want to lower prescription drug costs and deliver affordability, they should turn their attention to the anti-competitive practices of Big Pharma that use to block lower-cost alternatives from entering the market:

“If you want to know why drug prices remain too high, all you have to do is look at the vastly anti-competitive practices of Big Pharma that maintain monopoly pricing for far too long for too many. And it’s all about the patent system, Hugh. If you look at pay-for-delay, product hopping, evergreening, it all needs to be addressed.”

The conversation came just days after The Hill highlighted PCMA’s expanded advocacy efforts and the industry’s commitment to changing the conversation around drug affordability. In the article, Marin underscored the importance of letting the long list of PBM reforms that Congress passed in February be implemented before passing more mandates or restrictions:

“It’s important that members sometimes be reminded of the massive reform package that they just passed. I think it’s only smart policy to allow those reforms some time to ripen and mature.”

Read the full The Hill article HERE.