SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined a letter to congressional leaders advocating for legislative action to reform Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices. The letter, sent by the National Association of Attorneys General, was led by Arkansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
According to the bipartisan coalition of attorneys general, the “original purpose [of] the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) was to protect and negotiate on behalf of employers and consumers after pharmaceutical manufacturers were criticized for overpricing medications.” However, due to “a small number of PBMs [that] hold significant market power,” the PBMs reap “abundant profits at the expense of the patients, employers, and government payors [they] are supposed to help.”
In their letter, the attorneys general explain that “while state law can provide the basis for oversight of and lawsuits against PBMs, States often face arguments by PBMs that federal jurisdiction and preemption limit states’ authority to regulate PBMs.” This quandary led to the States writing to congressional leaders in support of three proposals that would “combat high healthcare costs”: The DRUG Act (S1542/HR6283), Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act (HR2880), and The Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (HR5378).
Passage of these three bills would help “state and federal regulators [to] work together to better meet their shared responsibility to hold PBMs accountable and improve the country’s health care system overall.”
Joining Utah, Arkansas, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as signatories on the letter were the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming; as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
