Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, entitled “Ensuring Affordable & Accessible Medications: Examining Competition in the Prescription Drug Market.”
Mark Blum, managing director of the PBM Accountability Project, issued the following statement:
“We share the Senate Judiciary Committee’s interest in shining a spotlight on anti-competitive practices in the prescription drug market. To that end, we respectfully suggest that the best place to train that spotlight is on the few large health insurance conglomerates, and their pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), that dominate virtually every aspect of prescription drug pricing.
“Consider this: The largest health insurance companies in the U.S. own the three largest PBMs, corporate middlemen that determine which drugs are covered and what prices will be paid for more than 80% of all prescription drug claims in the country. PBMs use that marketplace power to eliminate competition and shape a system that optimizes their profitability at the expense of hardworking Americans who struggle to pay for their medicines.
“It’s clear that the vertical integration of the health insurance industry, which includes physicians, medical insurance, PBMs, pharmacy distribution and offshore group purchasing operations, undermines market competition and ultimately drives up costs.
“We commend Congress for working to ensure accessible and affordable medicines and hope that, in order to do so, they will advance meaningful health insurance and PBM reforms as soon as possible.”
To learn more about the PBM issue and legislative solutions, click here.
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