Today, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) submitted formal comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) as part of the rulemaking process for the proposed regulation, “Improving Transparency into Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure.”  

PCMA called on DOL to rescind the proposed rule because it is unnecessary and risks degrading a competitive and effective PBM industry. Specifically:  

• The proposal is blatantly redundant of the recently passed PBM reform legislation signed into law by President Trump,  

• The proposal offers nearly no additional meaningful transparency for employers, and

• The proposal threatens to reduce competition in the PBM market.  

On releasing PCMA’s comment letter, David Marin, President and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, made the following statement. 

“This rule would add significant costs without providing any additional meaningful transparency, and that’s why we’re calling on the Department of Labor to withdraw it. President Trump already delivered on transparency when he signed PBM reform into law this year. DOL’s proposed rule is unnecessary, duplicative, and would stack reporting mandates that offer essentially no useful new information to employers. 

“PBMs are now the most transparent segment of the prescription drug supply chain. PBMs have already responded to employer requests for more information, and the new reform law guarantees every PBM will be a fully transparent one. We are committed to drug-by-drug, claim-by-claim, pharmacy-by-pharmacy reporting. But more regulation doesn’t mean more information; it just means greater regulatory burdens. 

“We want a competitive PBM market. Competition leads to innovation. The dozens of smaller PBMs in America simply cannot sustain the regulatory environment the DOL rule would create. These PBMs serve specific regions of the country and offer unique services that employers, especially small businesses, cannot provide themselves. Burying them in more reporting requirements will only create a less competitive PBM market. 

“We share the Trump administration’s goal of PBM transparency and are acting to make it reality. The DOL rule is simply costly government overreach without benefit for employers or American families. It should be rescinded immediately.”  

PCMA’s comments to the department provide detailed, substantive legal and economic arguments to support rescinding the proposal:   

• Congress has enacted comprehensive PBM transparency requirements, making the proposal unnecessary. Since the rule was proposed, Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which now governs PBM transparency, reporting, and plan oversight to provide employers with the information they need to make informed decisions.  

• The proposal would create duplicative and conflicting requirements that increase costs – especially for mid-market PBMs – and ultimately reduce competition. The proposal is misaligned with the CAA on scope, definitions, reporting structures, audits, and timing, forcing PBMs and the employers who will receive the data to maintain parallel compliance systems that add complexity and burden, especially for smaller and mid-market PBMs. 

• The rule would impose significant burdens on America’s small employers and unions. By extending disclosure mandates beyond the statute, the proposal raises legal concerns and would require costly system changes and administrative effort, burdens that would fall especially hard on small employers and labor unions. 

Read the full comment letter HERE.