Washington, D.C., March 30, 2023 – Employers’ Prescription for Affordable Drugs (EmployersRx), of which The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is a member, provided a statement for the U.S. Senate Finance Full Committee’s hearing on “Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) and the Prescription Drug Supply Chain: Impact on Patients and Taxpayers” highlighting the need for federal action to better understand PBM practices. EmployersRx encouraged the Committee to develop legislation that includes:
- Strong transparency and reporting requirements that benefit employers and their contracts in knowing details about fee or rebate schedules or amounts, prices, and fees generated from manufacturers and other parties, drug definition criteria, or amounts charged to pharmacies
- Prohibitions or limits on spread pricing
- Pass-through of 100 percent of all rebates and volume or access-based administrative fees by PBMs
- Prohibitions on all “workarounds” such as the creation of group purchasing organizations
- Transparency surrounding PBM-owned pharmacies and their transactions
- Define and regulate bona fide service fees
- Establish clear regulatory oversight and accountability of PBMs
“Employers have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that patients get the best deal on prescription drugs, and PBMs should be our partners in achieving this”, said James Gelfand, President of ERIC. “We look forward to working with the Committee on bipartisan legislation that will benefit our employees and bring transparency, accountability, and reform to the PBM industry.”
To read the EmployersRx Statement, click HERE.