AG Raoul asks Congress to pass act to curb overreach by PBMs

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a bipartisan coalition of 39 attorneys general, sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to pass an act that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies. 

Officials say PBMs are third-party administrators of prescription drug programs for health plans. Over the past few decades, horizontal consolidation and vertical integration have transformed PBMs from “useful” administrative service providers into market-dominating “behemoths” that control the industry.

“PBMs have opted to focus on driving up their own profits at the expense of patients,” Raoul said. “Their control of an outsized share of the market has led to patients having fewer choices and paying higher costs. I join my fellow attorneys general in calling on Congress to reign in PBMs, and I will continue to advocate for reforms that ensure prescription pricing is transparent and reduce the financial burden on patients.”

AG Raoul says the coalition’s letter urges Congress to take action and protect consumers by enacting a law prohibiting PBMs or their parent companies from owning a pharmacy. The top six PBMs operate affiliated pharmacies, while five of the top six are also a part of parent conglomerates that operate insurance companies and health care clinics. PBMs – through their ownership of affiliated pharmacies – are contracting with and have power over their own pharmacies’ competition. The PBMs then use their roles as intermediaries to exert this power in ways that harm independent pharmacies, forcing those small businesses to accept contractual terms that are “confusing, unfair, arbitrary and harmful.”

The letter can be viewed below.

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