The evidence against pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, has been piling up. Congress and multiple state legislatures have held hearings revealing how the anti-consumer practices of these health insurance corporate middlemen are driving up out-of-pocket prescription drug costs.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a report condemning PBM pricing manipulations. Media reports have detailed how these middlemen mark up drug prices and collect billions of dollars in hidden fees, increasing costs for patients and employers.
New polling has confirmed that the American people urgently want something done about this problem. And it may affect their votes in the November election.
A bipartisan survey conducted by Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research has found that nine in 10 likely voters say it is important or very important to have rules that will require PBMs to provide value and lower drug costs for consumers. More than two-thirds of these voters say they are likelier to vote for a candidate who supports regulating PBMs.
As we live through the most fractious political times in which there are few subjects on which the American people agree, these polling data are remarkable. We’re sharply divided on countless issues between red and blue — sometimes, even within each party — yet when it comes to PBMs and out-of-pocket drug prices, we stand as one in believing that the status quo is unacceptable.
For example, the polling showed voters were very concerned about two of the largest PBMs charging prices for specialty drugs at least 24 times higher than the manufacturer’s list prices and that seniors on Medicare have been charged four times as much for a drug as the PBMs paid for it.
The new polling shows that likely voters are remarkably unified in supporting two PBM reforms. Eight in 10 said they support policies to prevent PBMs from generating profits based on drug prices in Medicare, indicating strong support for pending legislation in Congress that would pay PBMs a flat fee for their services and remove the incentives to steer patients to higher-priced drugs that generate more revenues for the middlemen. Further, more than eight in 10 likely voters said they want legislation ensuring that PBM-negotiated rebates and discounts on prescription drugs are passed along to help reduce pharmacy costs for senior citizens with chronic health conditions. There is bipartisan legislation on Capitol Hill that would do that.
For a long time, PBMs have relied on the complexity and opaqueness of their business practices to avoid scrutiny. The spotlight generated by state and federal lawmakers and regulators has raised public awareness.
It is not often that we find such bipartisan consensus on a policy direction in this divided time. The bipartisan polling tells us that lawmakers in Washington and in the states would do well to pass PBM reforms as expeditiously as possible. Voters of both parties see a serious wrong taking place, one that is costing them money, and they want to hold PBMs accountable now.
Mark Blum is the managing director of the PBM Accountability Project. / David Mermin is a pollster, political strategist and partner at Lake Research Partners. / Christine Matthews is a leading public opinion pollster at Bellwether Research.
Reprinted with Permission from DC Journal – By Mark Blum, David Mermin, and Christine Matthews
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.