It’s frustrating that Congress hasn’t done more to protect patients and reduce out-of-pocket costs, especially for life-changing and life-saving prescription medications, treatments, and therapies. That includes passing bipartisan legislation last year to reform the questionable “business practices” insurers and their Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) use to prioritize profits over the wellbeing of patients.
As someone whose husband passed away due to progressive supranuclear palsy, I’m no
stranger to the harmful, access-limiting tactics and practices PBMs use that can undermine patient access and outcomes. Using policies like prior authorization and pharmacy “steering,” PBMs can essentially control exactly when and where patients can get the critical medications they need, often creating access barriers and unnecessary delays that worsen disease progression in some at-risk patients.
Michigan’s congressional delegation — including both Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Sen. Gary Peters, as well as U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell — should push for PBM reform that protects patients and improves drug access. They can do that by working to integrate the vital reforms from the bipartisan Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act into the upcoming budget bill Congress is set to pass by March 8.
This is a huge issue for me and tens of millions of patients nationwide — most of whom are also voters, I would imagine. With this being a critical election year, hopefully our elected officials in Congress will, at the very least, feel politically inspired to pass PBM reform sooner rather than later.
Pam Pfeifer
Brighton
