This more of an addenda to my last post noting how PBMs have, to their detriment, ended up on Sen. Grassley’s radar screen.
Now Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), up for reelection this cycle, has weighed in:
“The whole rebate thing just looks kind of — well it’s hard to understand how the consumer benefits from that. They claim that they sort of spread the benefit in terms of insurance cost, but then it’s hard to get the facts and see exactly where the money goes. I’d prefer a system that’s a little less of a Rubik’s Cube and that’s a little more straightforward.” (Source: Modern Healthcare/pay wall 030619)
In a related development, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) of the House Energy and Commerce health panel said Republicans and Democrats could agree the rebate system as a whole and the pharmacy benefit managers who govern it need more transparency.
“There’s a lot of concern about PBMs,” Welch told reporters Tuesday. “You know, the PBMs are totally obscure, so nobody knows how much the rebates are or what’s in the formulary.”
PBMs will be the target of a Senate Finance Committee probe in a hearing to be held April 9th.
personal disclosure: my pharmaceutical clients support pbm rebate reform