Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) and Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) recently introduced the Pharmacists Fight Back Act (H.R. 9096), a comprehensive PBM reform bill that addresses reimbursement and provides significant penalties for PBM violations. Among other things, it would reform payments in federal health programs—including Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program—by requiring reimbursements that are based on acquisition costs and fair dispensing fees. NCPA was proud to endorse this legislation.
The Pharmacists Fight Back Act joins other significant PBM reform bills that are currently pending in Congress. Several bipartisan bills have passed through the committee process in both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support, including S. 2973, the Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability (MEPA) Act (passed 26-1 out of the Senate Finance Committee)/H.R. 5378, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, which requires a fair and transparent reimbursement to pharmacies in all state Medicaid managed care programs and saves over $1 billion; and the Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act (S. 3430), which seeks to provide fairness in Medicare Part contracts by requiring CMS to define and enforce reasonable and relevant contract terms in Medicare. We continue to push hard, along with our allies, for Congress to finalize PBM reform and send it to the president’s desk this year. Here’s how you can help keep the pressure on.
