Patients like me who rely on prescription drugs to manage a range of symptoms and health care conditions are tired of getting gouged by increasingly high out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy. Our elected officials in Congress must do something this year to help reduce these burdensome costs and protect patients in Louisiana and throughout the nation.
The most effective thing Congress could do to help bring out-of-pocket prescription costs down would be to reform the harmful practices and policies enforced by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). These insurer-owned groups have proved time and time again that they do not have the best interests of patients in mind as they only care about boosting their profits whenever and however they can.
Sadly, that even includes an all-too-common practice in which PBMs will negotiate with drug manufacturers to secure significant discounts or rebates on certain medications. However, instead of passing those discounts down to patients to help them lower their out-of-pocket expenses, PBMs will generally just absorb the savings to inflate their already massive profit margins.
That is why Congress must pass PBM reform legislation before the end of the year. Senators Cassidy and Kennedy can do their part by supporting and helping to advance both the Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act as well as the Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability Act. Vulnerable patients shouldn’t have to pay more out of pocket just so these greedy PBMs can keep raking in the profits.
Shayne Benedetto
