NACDS Urges U.S. Congress to Make PBM Reform a Priority in Upcoming Hearings Examining the Change Healthcare Cyberattack

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is urging lawmakers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other stakeholders to take action to help ensure affordable, high-quality and uninterrupted access to healthcare for Americans - including swift enactment of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms in Medicaid and Medicare.

NACDS submitted the statement in advance of Wednesday's House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing and Senate Finance Committee hearing examining the impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson said: "Pharmacies and the patients they serve are in a crisis, as the harmful tactics of PBM middlemen continue to force pharmacies of all sizes to sell medications below cost, causing pharmacies to close their doors - and ultimately jeopardizing continuity of care. There will be important discussions today on the Change Healthcare cyberattack and on other key issues impacting healthcare access across communities. We urge Congress to include PBM reform as part of these hearings in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

"Three companies control nearly 85% of the PBM market. A conversation about the damage inflicted on patients and pharmacies as a result of market consolidation is vital - and it is consistent with the conversation currently ongoing about 'pharmaceutical benefit manipulation.'"

Read more about NACDS' work at the federal and state levels to confront PBM practices that force patients and others to pay more for their medicines, that limit patients' access to their pharmacist, that restrict patients' access to the medicines right for them, and that jeopardize the pharmacies on which patients rely.