Prescription benefit managers negotiate drug prices, but potential savings aren’t necessarily passed on to patients. Reforms could change this.
Texas lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott have made significant strides in recent years to address manipulative practices of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, that have pocketed billions of dollars in pharmaceutical savings that should have passed to Texans through their health plans. Texas’ leaders have stood up to relentless lobbying by PBMs, whose “sky is falling” claims have not proven credible.
The Legislature and Abbott should ignore this manipulation and press forward on legislation by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, and state Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, to build on successes in demanding greater transparency and accountability from PBMs. Large health insurers and employers hire PBMs as middlemen to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers. However, PBMs often pocket much of the savings, which should go to patients and taxpayers.
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed states to set rules for transparency and accountability of PBM practices impacting their citizens. Texas is leading by addressing the billions in drug savings siphoned from the pockets of hard-working Texans and into the coffers of middlemen.
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