NACDS lauds leadership, urges action as members of Congress call for enactment of PBM reform this year

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is praising the following Congressional leaders for continuing to prioritize people over pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) middlemen’s devastating tactics: U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA); U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK); and U.S. Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-CA); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY); Debbie Dingell (D-MI); Mike Flood (R-NE); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA); Greg Murphy (R-NC); Juan Ciscomani (D-AZ); Nick Langworthy (R-NY); Scott Peters (D-CA); Rick Allen (R-GA); and Greg Landsman (D-OH).

At a press event today, these bipartisan lawmakers along with patient, caregiver and pharmacist advocates nationwide called on “Congressional leadership to pass PBM reforms to hold [the PBM] middlemen accountable for their role driving up the cost of medicines as detailed in this House Oversight Committee report, among others.”

NACDS also lauds the commitment of other Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate who are standing strong for urgently needed PBM reforms in the waning days of the 118^th Congress.

WATCH THE FULL PRESS EVENT

NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson said: “Thank you to these champions of Americans’ healthcare and of the pharmacies that serve them. They are telling it like it is: Congress needs to enact, this year, the bipartisan reforms in Medicare and Medicaid on which it already has done the hard work. When Americans and their pharmacies are paying the price of PBMs’ gross market distortions now, and when Congress already has done the hard work to fashion reforms, why wait to fix this dire problem? Why wait to reduce Americans’ inflated out-of-pocket drug costs? Why wait to protect their access to medications and trusted pharmacists? Why wait to stop the abuses forcing pharmacies out of business and making rural healthcare even more remote and out-of-touch for vulnerable Americans?

“American voters say it best, with two-thirds agreeing that Congress should consider PBM reform legislation to be ‘must-pass legislation’ before concluding its work in 2024, and agreeing that their member of Congress should ‘do whatever it takes’ to enact PBM reforms this year. Every branch and level of government needs to do its part to bring about comprehensive reform.”