Collins Introduces Drug Pricing Transparency Bill

9th District U.S. Representative Doug Collins is introducing a bill he said he will help with drug pricing transparency.

Last week, Collins introduced H.R. 1316, the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act.

Collins said the bill is designed to protect taxpayers and the community pharmacists who serve them by requiring greater transparency from pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs.
According to Collins, PBMs are the middlemen that employers and federal programs use to set formularies, or lists of drugs covered by insurers, for consumers on their health plans.

He said PBMs also use Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) lists to set reimbursement rates for prescription drugs sold in pharmacies and have historically refused to explain, either to pharmacies or to the federal programs they represent, their process for setting pharmacy reimbursement prices.
PBMs also claim to deliver cost savings by passing along rebates to federal programs like Medicare Part D, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. However, Collins said PBMs’ lack of transparency makes it impossible to determine whether these savings are being passed to federal programs or are increasing the PBMs’ bottom line.

Collins said this bill would ensure that PBMs update their MAC lists for Medicare Part D, TRICARE, and FEHBP every seven days to protect competitive pricing and to preserve pharmacy access and choice for patients.
Support for this legislation extends across the aisle, and Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa is the bill’s lead Democratic co-sponsor.

Also, Collins said the National Community Pharmacists Association, the Community Oncology Alliance, and the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy have endorsed this legislation.