Tell Congress, reforms focused on Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are long overdue and at a minimum, the bipartisan measures that were agreed to last December must be expeditiously enacted.

PBMs are corporate middlemen who manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of health plans. They determine which drugs are on a formulary and at what tier, patient out-of-pocket costs, and what pharmacies are allowed to participate in a plan’s pharmacy network. Unfortunately, their decisions are based on what is best for their bottom line rather than what is best for you as a patient. Formulary decisions are based on what drug they get the highest manufacturer rebate and patients are often steered to the retail or mail order pharmacy owned by the PBM.

Congress has missed several opportunities to pass common-sense PBM reforms to enhance patient access to medications, decrease the cost of prescription medications, and reduce taxpayer costs by over $5 billion.

Tell your legislators that delayed action results in delayed relief for patients and taxpayers and contributes to expanding pharmacy deserts by forcing more community pharmacies to close their doors due to PBMs. 

The costs of medications continue to increase; patient access continues to decrease and PBM reform cannot wait.