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Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) launched a invoice on Thursday to extend transparency, accountability, and competitors amongst pharmacy profit managers (PBM).
The Modernizing and Making certain PBM Accountability Act (MEPA) marks the newest bipartisan try and rein within the practices of PBMs, which operate as an important hyperlink within the pharmaceutical provide chain.
PBMs negotiate drug costs with pharmaceutical producers and handle prescription drug advantages for employers or medical health insurance plans.
CVS Well being’s (NYSE:CVS) CVS Caremark, Cigna’s (NYSE:CI) Express Scripts, and UnitedHealthcare’s (NYSE:UNH) Optum management about 80% of the U.S. PBM market.
“The excellent proposals included on this invoice will improve oversight of pharmacy profit managers and enhance incentives throughout Medicare and different federal well being applications,” Senate Finance Committee Rating Member, Crapo mentioned.
“At this time’s introduction marks the subsequent step towards taking on well being care middlemen which are driving up prices for seniors and taxpayers,” the Committee Chairman Wyden remarked.
Amongst its different measures, the invoice seeks to ban tying PBM’s compensation in Medicare to a drug’s sticker value and goals to supply reduction to unbiased pharmacies, which regularly must bear the brunt of PBM’s damaging enterprise practices.