Between the hearings, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) hosted members of the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, as well as community pharmacy advocates including NCPA members, to talk about the need for insurers to put patients before profits and call out the negative effects that insurer-owned PBMs and vertical integration have on patients, pharmacists, and physicians, such as increased costs and limited care.
Members attending included Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), and Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.). NCPA member Jim Richards of Corner Pharmacy in Chatsworth, Ga., his wife Kimberly, and LeRoy Strickland of Clayton Pharmacy in Bremen, Ga., also spoke about their experiences dealing with PBMs’ anticompetitive practices, including low reimbursement fees, clawbacks, and denials.
