America's Healthy Futures Act /Senate Finance

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE PASSES HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL
Today the Senate Finance Committee passed America's Health Future Act, a health care reform bill that includes several provisions ensuring the ability of community pharmacies to continue providing critical services to patients.

PBM TRANSPARENCY AMENDMENT IN THIS BILL
The amendment from Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will lead to transparency regarding the deals pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—the administrators of prescription drug plans—reach with drug manufacturers. Currently, PBMs retain much of these payments before sharing the rest with employers and patients. PBM profits have ballooned—up 20 percent last year alone—at the expense of everyone else confronting higher insurance premiums. While PBMs claim transparency increases costs, a thorough analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) deemed it budget neutral. Ultimately, savings will be found as a result of this transparency provision, as Medicare, the Pentagon, and the State of Texas are experiencing, among others.