CONTACT: Michael DeSantis
michael@americancommitment.org
Passing S.2973 and S.3430 Will End the PBM Kickback Scheme and Deliver Real Savings to Seniors
Washington, D.C. — November 12, 2024 — Commitment to Seniors, a project of American Commitment, has launched a national and multi-state grassroots mobilization and paid media campaign urging Congress to ACT NOW and pass the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reforms, S. 2973 and S. 3430, to deliver real savings to seniors.
The “Big Three” PBMs, which control nearly 80% of the market, are all tied to vertically integrated health insurance conglomerates – UnitedHealth Group (the nation’s largest health insurer), CVS Health, and Cigna. PBMs function by “negotiating” list prices with drugmakers—on which copays are based—while securing substantial rebates that never reach patients at the pharmacy counter but instead simply bolster corporate PBM profit margins.
One major reason American seniors’ health care costs are skyrocketing is that these big insurer-PBM corporations are pocketing massive drug pricing discounts meant for seniors in Medicare. In fact, big insurer-PBM profits are often linked directly to high drug prices, meaning more profits for middlemen and higher costs for seniors who rely on Medicare.
Big insurer-PBM corporations have benefited from minimal Congressional oversight and were even granted extended exemptions from federal anti-corruption laws under the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), allowing them to further profit from large drug discounts meant for Medicare patients. Now, many on both sides of the aisle in Congress are working to end these corporate middlemen’s ability to inflate prices paid by patients – especially American seniors on Medicare.
“The bipartisan consensus is clear: big health insurers and their PBMs have been inflating the costs of medications and pocketing massive discounts meant for seniors for far too long. Congress must seize the opportunity to reign in PBMs’ ability to game the Medicare system and profit at patients’ and taxpayers’ expense,” said President of American Commitment, Phil Kerpen. “Passing S. 2973 and S. 3430 this year will ensure Medicare patients get the savings they deserve.”
“Seniors and their doctors agree that patients should come before profits, and it’s up to Congress to protect our health care system and those in Medicare who depend on it the most,” said Senior Advisor to Commitment to Seniors, Bob Johnson. “S. 2973 and S. 3430 will finally address big insurer-PBMs’ shady business practices and put savings in the pockets of older Americans—not greedy middlemen.”
Click here to learn more about this campaign and why Congress should pass the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan PBM reforms this year.
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American Commitment is dedicated to restoring and protecting our nation’s commitment to free markets, economic growth, constitutionally limited government, property rights, and individual freedom. American Commitment engages in critical public policy fights over the size and intrusiveness of government through direct advocacy, strategic policy analysis, and grassroots mobilization. Visit us online at www.AmericanCommitment.org.