Letter: Big Pharma's assault on the private health care market

Recent actions in Missouri’s state legislature and our federal government cast pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) as the “cause” of rising High drug costs, but this diverts us from the real issue.

PBMs negotiate with Big Pharma securing discounts and rebates, which ultimately lower drug costs for consumers and employers — an average savings of $1,040 per person per year.

Big Pharma knows PBMs are the only real check on their excessive pricing powers. That’s why they push legislation to weaken or eliminate PBMs intending to boost their own profits.

Here in Missouri, pending legislation, such as SB 45 and HB 474 ,will hike already high drug costs by under-cutting lower-cost pharmacy options, like mail order and specialty pharmacies — stripping health plan sponsors working with PBMs from being able to choose benefits that work best.

In Washington, legislation being considered will dismantle the pay-for-performance models that enable PBMs to negotiate discounts and rebates from Big Pharma. This would result in higher drug prices, giving Big Pharma massive windfalls — upward of $22 billion annually.

Rather than undermining PBMs, legislators must focus on interrupting root causes of high drug prices by weakening Big Pharma's outsized control over high drug pricing. Big Pharma’s patents and market manipulation block competition, directly increasing our high drug costs by more than $40 billion a year.

I truly hope our representatives in Jefferson City and Washington stand firm against Big Pharma's self-serving legislative agenda. Please call them now.