Pharmacy benefit managers are working on a proposal to change certain business practices in an effort to curb potential regulation from the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported Sept. 24.
Here are four things to know:
- The lobbying group representing PBMs, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, prepared proposals for CMS, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg. PCMA spokesperson Greg Lopes told the news outlet that the organization is regularly in communication with the administration and Congress “to find ways to achieve everyone’s shared goal to lower drug costs for patients.”
- Proposals under consideration include preventing patients from paying more than the cash price at a pharmacy, promoting greater use of cheaper biologic alternatives and raising payments to rural and independent pharmacies.
- Some critics, including the National Community Pharmacists Association, view the PBMs’ proposal as disingenuous, arguing that PBMs have had the power to self-regulate but have consistently chosen not to.
“If this news report is accurate, we would strongly urge the administration to reject this gambit,” the NCPA stated in a Sept. 24 press release shared with Becker’s. “Whatever they are promising to do, it would be foolish for the administration to trust the PBMs to regulate their behavior. They could have been doing that all along, but they have refused. In fact, they’ve litigated against every effort to regulate their behavior or just ignored the law.” - The move comes after increased scrutiny of PBMs in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats demanding stricter enforcements of how companies negotiate discounts of prescription medications.
