HYDE-SMITH HEARTENED BY SCATHING REPORT ON PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGERS PRACTICES
Miss. Senator Says FTC Investigation Shows Consumers, Small Pharmacies Being Hurt by PBM Practices
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to complete its investigation into pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) following the release of an interim report indicating consumers are paying higher prices because powerful prescription drug middlemen have a monopoly grip on the prescription benefit market.
For the past two years, Hyde-Smith has encouraged the FTC to investigate practices of PBMs, which today manage every aspect of the prescription drugs benefit process for health insurance companies, self-insured employers, unions, and government programs – largely operating out of the view of regulators and consumers.
“We’ve all seen prescription drug prices continue to rise, which hurts the healthcare of Mississippians and the American people. Business relationships between insurers, PBMs, specialty pharmacies, and providers, coupled with a lack of transparency, has only increased concerns that savings aren’t being passed on to patients,” Hyde-Smith said. “I am heartened by the findings in this interim report and I will continue to push the FTC to complete its investigation, which should help us find better ways to improve a system that today unfairly penalizes consumers.”
The Mississippi Independent Pharmacies Association (MIPA), along with the National Community Pharmacists Association, American Pharmacists Association, and others, have supported the FTC investigation.
“The Federal Trade Commission has raised the veil of secrecy on the pharmacy benefit managers’ opaque and shadowy business practices. The outstanding work done by the FTC has proven that the PBMs are the real culprits behind the high cost of prescription drugs. These unregulated middlemen must be reined in to help curb the rising cost of prescription drugs for American and Mississippi citizens. The Mississippi Independent Pharmacies Association applauds the FTC and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith for their work to expose the real motives behind the PBMs,” said Robert H. Dozier, MIPA executive director.
The FTC on Tuesday issued an interim staff report titled, Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Costs and Squeezing Main Street Pharmacies. It found that the largest PBMs control 95 percent of prescriptions filled in the United States annually. It also examines how PBMs drive up the costs for many lifesaving drugs, including cancer drugs, and squeeze independent pharmacies out of the market.
Hyde-Smith in January signed a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan seeking an update on the PBM investigation which was launched in June 2022. Shortly after the start of the inquiry, Hyde-Smith also encouraged a thorough investigation of the firms that control a vast majority of the prescription benefit market.
Separately, Hyde-Smith is an original cosponsor of the bipartisan PBM Transparency Act (S.127), which would authorize the FTC to hold PBMs accountable for unfair or deceptive practices. This legislation is sponsored by U.S. Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
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