The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement on New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill’s budget address:

“The governor’s remarks today about pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are simply untrue and misleading to New Jersey patients, and it is imperative to correct the record. The mission of PBMs is to reduce prescription drug costs, and they do so highly effectively – saving New Jersey families thousands of dollars. It is the reason they exist. Importantly, PBMs are fully transparent. In recent years, PBMs have made fundamental changes to increase transparency for government programs, like Medicaid, employers, and patients.

“Contrary to Governor Sherrill’s assertion, PBMs are working every day to lower prescription drug costs for New Jersey patients. PBMs save an average of $1,154 per person annually for the 8.3 million New Jerseyans they serve and over the next ten years, that work will save the state more than $37 billion.

“To meaningfully reduce drug costs, Governor Sherrill and New Jersey’s lawmakers should focus their attention on the drug manufacturers that are setting exorbitant prices and blocking lower cost generic drugs from the market. In addition, prescription drug wholesalers operate with little oversight and transparency over generic drug pricing.

“The good news is PBMs and Governor Sherrill share the goal of lowering drug costs. We are eager to work together. To achieve our shared goal, it will be crucial to take an honest and holistic approach to examining the causes for high drug costs. We stand ready to explain how PBMs work to lower costs, with total transparency, and we look forward to working together to make prescription drugs more accessible and affordable for all New Jersey patients.”