|
■ See the Text of HR 2679
Congress continues to target PBM practices with the filing of a new bipartisan House bill aimed at increasing transparency and accountability for the powerful pharmacy middlemen.
HR 2679, the Pharmacy Benefits Manager Accountability Act, was filed by Rep. Ann Kuster l(right) late Tuesday. Quickly joining as co-sponsors were Republicans Buddy carter of Georgia and Brett Guthrie of Kentucky along with Democrat Anna Eshoo of California. The bill would implement a variety of accountability and transparency requirements by amending the Public Health Service Act, the Internal Revenue Code and The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, leaving no doubt about whether its provisions would apply to ERISA plans.
The bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Guthrie chairs the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and Eshoo is the ranking Democrat, meaning the bill is almost certain to advance through that committee to the House floor, either on its own or as part of other legislation.
The committee already has announced that it will hold an April 26 hearing on HR 2679, as well as Carter's HR 1613, the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act, which bans Medicaid spread pricing.
HR 2679 would:
- Require that plan sponsors receive a quarterly report on the costs, fees and rebate information associated with their PBM contracts. Reporting will be structured to prevent the release of information that could lead to higher drug prices.
- Prohibit PBMs from engaging in spread pricing, or charging a plan sponsor, health insurance plan or patient more for a drug than the PBM paid to acquire the drug.
- Require additional reporting on drug pricing for PBMs that own mail-order, specialty, or retail pharmacies.
- Include penalties for PBMs that fail to timely report the above information.
- Empower the secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to assess civil penalties to enforce reporting requirements.
“Patients across the country deserve transparency around what they pay for prescription drugs," Kuster said in a joint news release. "I am proud to introduce this legislation to shine a light on how drugs are covered and paid for and to ensure transparency throughout the health system.”
“PBMs are the parasites of the pharmaceutical industry and the time for accountability has come," Carter added. "The PBM Accountability Act is an important step towards bringing down prescription drug prices by addressing the root cause of rising prices, the middlemen that prey on patients for profits. I’m glad that there is bipartisan support for building a health care system that puts patients first.”
| 
