Table of Contents
WASHINGTON — House Republicans have dropped language to rein in the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry from a new government funding bill that was released late Thursday.
The continuing resolution to fund the government failed a House vote, 235 to 174.
Earlier in the week leaders agreed to PBM reforms as part of a sweeping health package, but the overall funding bill it was attached to was torpedoed by frustrated GOP lawmakers, with assists from incoming “Department of Government Efficiency” co-leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as President-elect Trump.
The latest version, which was negotiated only amongst House Republicans, removed the health care and other provisions in favor of stripped-down legislation to fund the government for the next three months.
The PBM changes represented significant guardrails on the business practices of the industry, which has become a focus of bipartisan efforts to curb drug costs. The industry has faced intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill this year, and essentially every committee in both chambers with jurisdiction over health care drafted PBM reform legislation.
