FMI – The Food Industry Association welcomed the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s passage of the bipartisan “Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022.”
The legislation addresses several anticompetitive practices used by many of the drug middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers while giving the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general greater enforcement authorities to prevent PBMs from using their positions to harm patients and/or disadvantage their competitors.
Empowering the FTC to stop deceptive PBM practices that drive up the costs of prescription drugs is particularly important as the commission voted June 22 unanimously to launch a formal inquiry into the PBM industry and to ramp up enforcement against those PBMs participating in rebate schemes that block access to cheaper drugs.
Jennifer Hatcher, FMI chief public policy officer and SVP of government relations, made the following statement:
“For years, FMI has been highlighting the anticompetitive practices of many PBMs, which harm patients, employers and pharmacies while increasing drug costs and eroding patient access. PBMs stifle competition among the country’s most accessible and trusted health care professionals – pharmacies – and without action from Congress, PBM abuses will force supermarket companies and others with no alternative but to stop opening new pharmacies, or worse, continue leaving the pharmacy business altogether.
“We applaud Chairwoman Cantwell and Sen. Grassley for championing this important bill and the Senate Commerce Committee for advancing it. We also look forward to working with the committee, Senate leadership and the many pharmacy champions to get this legislation across the finish line.”
As the food industry association, FMI works with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain. FMI brings together a wide range of members across the value chain – from retailers that sell to consumers, to producers that supply food and other products, as well as the wide variety of companies providing critical services – to amplify the collective work of the industry.
For more information about the bill, S. 4293, click here.
