(Washington, D.C.) — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement ahead of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing, “Ensuring Affordable & Accessible Medications: Examining Competition in the Prescription Drug Market.”
“We applaud Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Graham, and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for holding this important hearing to explore increasing competition in the prescription drug market.
“Pharmacy benefit companies believe increasing competition in the prescription drug market is the key to further lowering costs for patients. Increasing competition in the market requires policies that address anti-competitive practices and patent abuses by drug companies that are the root cause of high drug costs.
“The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has determined several patent reform policies would produce significant savings for patients and taxpayers. Policies that actually lower drug costs and produce savings by cracking down on Big Pharma’s patent abuse, including bipartisan solutions advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, should be a priority as lawmakers consider options to fund the extension of critical health care programs, not misguided, pharma-backed proposals targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that would increase health care costs and boost profits for big drug companies.
“Pharmacy benefit companies are committed to securing lower drug costs for health plans and patients, and we look forward to working with policymakers to advance policies to achieve greater competition.”
Bills previously passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, with significant bipartisan support, that would foster greater prescription drug competition and produce significant savings include:
- S. 79, Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023
- S. 113, Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023
- S. 142, Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act (Estimated 10-year savings of $1.646 billion, CBO 3/13/24)
- S. 148, Stop STALLING Act (Estimated 10-year savings of $401 million, CBO, 3/13/24)
- S. 150, Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023 (Estimated 10-year savings of $1.109 billion, CBO, 6/6/22)
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients.
