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(STATEN ISLAND, NY) - Today, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) hosted a roundtable with national pharmacy associations and local pharmacies from New York’s 11th Congressional District. The roundtable featured representatives from Delco Drugs, Richmond Pharmacy & Surgical, St. George Pharmacy, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York.
The roundtable discussed abusive Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices that raise the cost of prescription drugs and drive independent pharmacies out of business, as well as legislative solutions taken by Congress. As a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Congresswoman Malliotakis has worked in a bipartisan manner to pass legislative language out of committee to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
"As a lawmaker, I remain committed to getting our bipartisan solutions adopted by Congress to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans. It is important to hear directly from our local pharmacies and organizations to understand their everyday challenges and how it affects consumers," said Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis. "Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) who are the middlemen negotiating prices and reimbursements are out of control and lack transparency in their shady practices, allowing themselves to profit significantly by controlling a big chunk of commercial insurers and network pharmacies and dictating what their independent pharmacy competitors can earn, oftentimes driving them out of business. Ultimately, this reduces access to and drives up what patients pay for prescription drugs and is why 30% of Americans say they are forced to skip dosages of critical and life saving medication. I am pleased that two of my bills to reign in PBMs have a broad coalition of support and hopeful that they will be considered by the entire House in the coming months."
Congresswoman Malliotakis introduced H.R.4881, The Protecting Patients from Middlemen Act. This legislation would prohibit prescription drug plans and Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage from charging patients more in drug cost-sharing that the net price of the drug. The legislation ensures that Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage (M.A.) patients will never pay more than the price insurers pay for the drug.
View the bill text of H.R. 4881 HERE.
Congresswoman Malliotakis is co-leading bipartisan legislation H.R. 2880, The Protecting Patients Against PDM Abuses Act with Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) bringing the total cosponsors to 37. The bill aims to establish requirements for Medicare pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) with respect to remuneration, payments, and fees.
View the bill text of H.R. 2880 HERE.
Congresswoman Malliotakis has cosponsored both H.R.1613, the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act of 2023 and H.R.1770 the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act. H.R.1613 mandates pass-through pricing models and prohibits spread-pricing for pharmacy benefit manager payment arrangements under Medicaid. It also extends funding for retail pharmacy surveys and requires additional information on price concessions and survey participation to be made publicly available. Meanwhile, H.R.1770 ensures continued Medicare coverage for pharmacist-administered tests for common respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, RSV, strep throat, and COVID-19, while allowing pharmacists to prescribe treatments based on test results and administer vaccines for these illnesses when available.
View the bill texts for H.R. 1613 HERE and H.R. 1770 HERE.
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