As a former Member of Congress who made ensuring quality healthcare at lower costs a priority, it was disappointing to see some current representatives trying to grant Big Pharma a legislative Christmas gift before they “got out of Dodge” for the holiday. Fortunately, consumer-minded Republicans killed these political giveaways right at the buzzer to protect their constituents’ healthcare affordability.
At issue was regulations targeting groups known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which some members wanted included in the year-end funding package.
Why on Earth would Congress do that?
Big Pharma opposes these groups because PBMs are used by private businesses to represent them at the prescription drug pricing negotiating table — and they often force the drugmakers to lower their costs by significant amounts.
Simply stated, that’s why The Swamp hates them.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed regulations against them, while the Biden-Harris Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit accusing them of colluding with drug companies to raise prices. This is an astonishing level of sinister deflection.
It’s amazing how much credence some members are giving to a suit brought by the Biden administration’s overzealous, borderline socialist antitrust enforcers. Especially when the research is stacked so heavily against the FTC.
A National Bureau of Economic Research Study found that PBMs negotiate almost $150 billion in discounts each year. Other research has found that local governments which restrict the use of PBMs in their health plans discovered their costs increased by 12.5%. The former chairman of President Trump’s White House Council of Economic Advisers concluded that PBMs provide over $145 billion in value annually.
This is exactly why businesses voluntarily hire PBMs. Why would employers choose to pay more for their own (and their employees’) health insurance?
There’s a good reason the great majority of businesses love working with their PBMs. They are used by 275 million Americans and regulating them would be a devastating upset for their healthcare. If PBMs really did raise prices, as some are arguing, the marketplace would eliminate them, since employers’ health plans would cease to use them!
As Biden’s FTC continues this witch hunt against PBMs, his longtime practice of cozying up to Big Pharma deserves a closer look.
Biden was once the top legislative recipient of donation dollars from Big Pharma. Kamala Harris was sixth on the list of Capitol Hill recipients of Big Pharma cash when she served as a California Senator. The Biden-Harris administration talks tough against Big Pharma, but it is all a smokescreen for their backdoor friendships with massive drug companies.
As The Daily Signal reported. “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris slammed Big Pharma for ‘inflating the price of lifesaving medications’ … But Biden and Harris’ congressional campaigns received $9 million and $2 million, respectively, from 1990-2024.”
Vilifying PBMs is an easy way for the current administration to “strike a pose”—pretending to stand up for American consumers who are paying exorbitant healthcare prices— while protecting their Big Pharma mega donors at the same time. But that doesn’t mean Congress should follow along.
Big Pharma would like nothing more than zero accountability to PBMs or outside organizations as the push for higher prescription drug prices continue. Prescription costs are already increasing at a greater pace than the rate of inflation.
82% of Americans say they pay too much for prescription drugs. And about the same percentage blame pharmaceutical companies as a “major factor” causing drug prices to rise.
The Swamp isn’t fooling anyone. Americans know who is really responsible for inflated drug prices. Publicity campaigns or expensive lawsuits against PBMs will merely make the problem worse, and allow Big Pharma to continue its high-priced practices.
Enough is enough. Congress should be granting its constituents regulatory relief in the new year, not sticking them with higher costs for prescription drugs.
Yes, Virginia—and the 49 other states—there is a Santa Claus…but he’s not part of the Capitol Hill crowd, who too often mistake naughty for nice.
J.D. Hayworth represented Arizona in the U.S. House from 1995-2007 and was the first Arizonan to serve on the Ways and Means Committee.
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