PCMA Statement on House Drug Pricing Legislation

(Washington, D.C.) — Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO JC Scott issued the following statement on the House Democrats drug pricing legislation:

“We appreciate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s and the House Democratic leadership’s focus on reducing prescription drug prices, specifically for medications that do not face competition in the market, and we share the goal of finding new solutions to address high drug list prices.

We believe that the most effective approach to achieving lower drug costs without disrupting consumer access is more competition in the marketplace and expanding the tools used by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). With sufficient competition, PBMs are best equipped to negotiate lower drug prices from manufacturers.

The legislation’s updates to the Medicare Part D program, including an out-of-pocket maximum for beneficiaries, should be accompanied by additional tools to expand health plan and PBMs’ negotiating power to manage prescription drug costs.

PBMs support a number of policies to increase competition, reduce drug costs for consumers, and build on market-based tools in public programs and private health insurance. For example, we support eliminating anti-competitive ‘pay-for-delay’ agreements, barring risk evaluation and mitigation strategy abuses by brand drug manufacturers, which will allow more generics to enter the marketplace, and disqualifying blockbuster drugs from getting orphan drug exclusivity.

In addition, PBMs support greater transparency across the prescription drug supply chain that empowers patients, prescribers, clients, and policymakers to make informed decisions that lead to optimal health outcomes and lower costs for patients. PBMs already provide patients and physicians with real-time benefit tools to determine formulary coverage and cost-sharing at the point of prescribing.

PBMs will continue working with policymakers to advance solutions that encourage greater competition to reduce drug costs for every consumer.”

 

 

 

 

###