(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, the House Ways and Means Committee is considering HR 9645, the Healthcare Price Certainty for All Americans Act. This bill includes several provisions that are duplicative of the sweeping pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform enacted earlier this year in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) that make it more difficult for smaller PBMs to compete, and give opportunistic actors like benefit consultants and pharmaceutical manufacturers the opportunity to data mine information to pad their own bottom line profits.

Federal law already mandates “spread-priced drugs” disclosures, pharmacy ownership integration disclosures and reports, and the CAA goes even further than this bill by providing data on every claim, every drug, every contract, and every fee to employers, unions, and the government. The bill’s pharmacy gag clause provision is duplicative of the 2018 Patients Right to Know Act, which already prohibits PBMs and health plans from restricting pharmacists from informing patients when lower-cost prescriptions are available.

David Marin, President and CEO of PCMA, issued the following statement in advance of the markup:

“PBMs are the most transparent part of the drug supply chain. Our companies have made fundamental changes to their business models to ensure that, and Congress has already enshrined full transparency into federal law. This bill is a solution in search of a problem.

“PBMs are all-in on transparency, but patients don’t benefit from duplicating existing law. This bill adds no new transparency for American families, just costly, redundant reporting requirements that make it harder for smaller PBMs to compete.

“The focus now should be on the parts of the drug supply chain that do not have the transparency that PBMs do. For example, the role of drug wholesalers, who have ownership of several portions of the supply chain, should be examined. In addition, it’s time to finally address the blatant patent abuses that are the primary reason drug costs remain high for some patients.”

PCMA looks forward to continuing the conversation with the committee about how best to be a partner in the system of the future where we see more affordable prescription drugs and healthier outcomes for patients.