On Monday, the Biden administration held A listening session to hear about the need for the government to regulate a group known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). It's no wonder why. Regulation of PBMs is a priority for far-left labor unions and Big Pharma, two of the most powerful interest groups. support the president and his party economically.
You've probably never heard of PBMs. And if you've heard of it, it's probably been through an incomprehensible and creepy rushed TV ad.
Their name sounds complicated, but it's actually not. PBMs are simply groups that health insurance companies voluntarily hire to negotiate with big drug companies to lower drug costs. They're good at it too. Last year, Casey Mulligan of the National Bureau of Economic Research, former chief economist of President Trump's Council of Economic Advisers, found They say their negotiations will save Americans billions of dollars each year.
The cost savings from PBMs are good news for the average American, but not so great for Big Pharma and its ability to keep prices soaring.That's why major pharmaceutical companies millions of Attacking PBMs through advertising and lobbying. They want the government to make it more difficult for these groups to support our health care plans and save us money.
Greedy far-left unions are also not big fans of PBMs. This is because these groups fear that the limits they place on drug companies' price gouging could lead to adverse financial outcomes for the conglomerates they represent. That has led them to align themselves squarely with Big Pharma in this fight.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced the bill because he's a good socialist. Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act, to do the bidding of two of the far left's favorite interest groups. Sanders and his allies in the Biden administration like to pretend that a large portion of the health care industry supports his bill, but this characterization is completely disingenuous. Many of the so-called health care advocacy groups supporting the deal have ties to Big Pharma, Big Labor, or both.
Take, for example, the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor Management Association. The group, which claims to be a grassroots coalition of labor and pharmaceutical organizations aimed at “creating good-paying jobs and life-saving medicines,” lists: four Partners on the website, all of which one teeth They are affiliated with or receive significant donations from PhRMA, a trade association for major pharmaceutical companies.about a dozen people in the group trustee He has also worked for major pharmaceutical companies such as PhRMA, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer.
Healthcare advocacy groups or big pharmaceutical companies? you decide.
The PBM Accountability project is no exception. The organization “unites patient advocacy leaders and stakeholders from health care, labor, business, pharmacy, and consumer to help prevent patients and private and public sector health plans from overpaying for necessary prescription drugs. We will support them so that they do not do this.” However, this group is dominated by Big Labor.
Chairman, PBM Accountability Project teeth The former international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and its two directors served on the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Ironworkers Association, and the AFL-CIO Board of Directors (or I was working). Is this group's opinion really what free market advocates should trust?
Big Pharma and Big Labor have never been our allies. The regulations they have pushed for years have raised consumer prices, reduced choice, and enriched fat, happy business owners at our expense. Shame on the Biden administration for giving these groups such a large and open platform on Monday. Republicans in Congress need to do everything in their power to stop this special interest power play.
Some, like Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, are already doing so. In an op-ed opposing the Sanders-Biden plan, he said: I have written“Instead of lowering drug prices, this bill is likely to put even more money in the pockets of Big Pharma's CEOs.” He's right, but it also means that Paul at the National Labor Rights Committee It will enrich the union bosses our friends continue to fight.
Republicans should listen to Paul on PBMs, not his two main conservative enemies. There's too much at stake here to go wrong.
Ashley Herzog is a freelance healthcare writer for Heartland Institute.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
