119th Congress Continues Momentum on PBM Reform

Both chambers of Congress are pressing forward with PBM reform efforts, reintroducing several bills that stalled in the last session. Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) reintroduced their bipartisan proposals to address transparency and drug pricing concerns: the Prescription Pricing for the People Act would require a federal study of industry consolidation and pricing practices, while the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Actwould ban claw backs of payments made to pharmacies and expand the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to regulate PBM business practices.

Separately, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the Drug-price Transparency for Consumers (DTC) Act, which would require disclosure of prescription drug costs in direct-to-consumer advertising. In the House, lawmakers have revived measures like the Saving Seniors on Prescriptions Act, which would implement reporting requirements for PBMs under Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage.

While more popular legislative proposals – including the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act – have yet to be resurrected, these early reintroductions are indicative of bipartisan support to move forward with PBM reforms this year.