Despite Trump’s Tough Talk On PBMs, GOP House Lets Them Off The Hook
Forbes December 20, 2024
In the same week President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to “knock out the middleman,” the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives failed to include reforms to pharmacy benefit managers in a key government funding bill.
The House, which is controlled by Republicans, stripped language from government funding legislation that would increase regulation of PBMs. Such companies, which are considered middlemen between drug companies and consumers when it comes to purchasing medicines, administer drug benefits for employers and government health insurance including Medicaid coverage for poor Americans and Medicare benefits for seniors.
In these roles, PBMs also decide what pharmacists and pharmacies are paid to dispense prescription medications. Meanwhile, pharmacies are closing across the country in recent years, which their owners...