Recent rumblings in the Senate regarding drug pricing “transparency” have many Americans puzzled. On one hand, who could possibly oppose transparency? Surely we all support efforts to promote candor and accountability in our health-care system. And yet, knowing as we do the tendency of bureaucrats and politicians to use euphemisms to mask more sinister motives, we owe it to ourselves to dig deeper.
At issue is a proposed law, S.127, the “PBM Transparency Act.” On the face of it, this bill purports to impose greater oversight and stricter reporting requirements on obscure entities in our medical system known as “pharmacy benefit managers,” or PBMs for short. PBMs offer their services to Medicare, health insurance companies, unions, and businesses big and small, negotiating with the wholesalers of prescription drugs in order to lower prices. By one estimate, PBMs save the average American around $1,000 per year.
Outrageous, right? Downright scandalous! You can see why lobbyists working for pharmaceutical companies and drug wholesalers would want to nip those PBMs in the bud. They’re cutting into their precious profits. Joe Biden’s activist Federal Trade Commission is pitching in too, not surprisingly. In a “coincidence” that will shock no one, pharmaceutical makers were by far the biggest spenders on lobbying last year, reportedly shelling out a whopping $284 million to influence our policymakers. That’s over 70 percent more than the second-leading industry.
Like most bills circulating in Congress, this one has been written off by and for special interests — in this case, the
