Janelle Irwin Taylor
Jul 19, 2024
'Given the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs nationwide, it’s abundantly clear that pharmacy benefit companies are a vital resource in helping employees and families more affordably access the medications they desperately need.'
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Tuesday will conduct a hearing evaluating the transparency and accountability surrounding pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The hearing is set to “examine how PBMs have used their position as middlemen to cement anticompetitive policies which have increased prescription drug costs, hurt independent pharmacies, and harmed patient care.”
The Committee includes three members of Florida’s congressional delegation — U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds, Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Waltz.
The meeting indicates Congress will be taking the issue up in the near future, with Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky writing in a statement that the committee has already “sounded the alarm over anticompetitive tactics” by PBMs and their “role in rising drug prices.”
But while PBMs have caught a bad rap in recently years — decried as middlemen responsible for overcharges on prescription medications, driving up costs for consumers and squeezing out the little guy — there’s another side that suggests otherwise. That is, PBMs are actually good for employers and can offer saving to employees, according to industry professionals.
“Across the state, Florida employers are facing the challenge of rising health care costs,” Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Julio Fuentes told Florida Politics.