(Washington, D.C.) — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement:

“The end-of-year health care package accompanying the Continuing Resolution has morphed into a massive 400-page bill that includes provisions that would undermine the role that pharmacy benefit managers, PBMs, play in lowering costs and providing choices for employers in the prescription drug marketplace. Sweeping health reform policies like this should be the result of a more thoughtful and intentional approach. The health care provisions included in the latest draft, as reported in the media, risk increasing costs for health plan sponsors, like employers and labor unions, patients, and families, and hiking up premiums for seniors.

“The so-called “delinking” policy included would result in increased health care premiums for seniors in the Medicare Part D program of $13 billion, hiking taxpayer spending and handing drug companies a $10 billion profit-boosting windfall.

“In addition, Congress is considering unprecedented government intrusion into the commercial market. Government mandates in the private market would completely eliminate employers’ choice in contracting decisions with PBMs as well as strip away the choice and flexibility they value in designing pharmacy benefits that best fit their patient populations. This far overreaching government intervention into the commercial market would set a dangerous precedent.

“The proposed spending package begs the question: What problem is Congress trying to solve? If the goal is to lower health care costs, then a giant windfall for drug companies that results in fewer choices for health plan sponsors and increased health care and taxpayer spending is not the answer.

“If these disastrous proposals are included in the final legislative package, the real impact would be on the millions of seniors and patients who rely on the savings delivered by PBMs – an average of $1,040 per person per year – who will see increased health care costs paid directly back to the very drug companies responsible for setting high prescription drug prices to begin with.”

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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients.