By Senator Josh Hawley’s Office
U.S. Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren reintroduced the Patients Before Monopolies Act to prohibit Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) from owning pharmacies and driving up the costs of prescription drugs. Insurance companies and PBMs have taken advantage of the system, putting profits before patients. The reintroduction comes after Senator Hawley and Senator Warren recently introduced the Break Up Big Medicine Act to address rampant consolidation in the healthcare industry that drives up prices, squashes competition, and hurts working people.
“Americans are paying more and more for healthcare while seeing less in return. PBMs are at the center of a broken system that rewards middlemen while driving up costs for patients and pushing out independent pharmacies,” said Senator Hawley. “Working Americans deserve better. This legislation is a major step toward restoring transparency and making healthcare more affordable for every American.”
“Our PBM Act is gaining momentum because people are realizing that you can’t lower health care costs without tackling corporate greed in the health care system,” said Senator Warren. “It’s time we finally rein in the health care middlemen that are jacking up drug costs and driving small pharmacies out of business.”
The Patients Before Monopolies Act would:
—Prohibit a parent company of a PBM or an insurer from owning a pharmacy business;
—Require that a parent company in violation of the PBM Act divest its pharmacy business within one year of the bill’s enactment;
—Create automatic penalties if a company fails to divest in a timely manner, including disgorgement of profits and forced sales of assets in the event of noncompliance;
—Enable the FTC, Department of Health and Human Services, Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and state attorneys general to bring lawsuits requiring violators of the PBM Act to divest their pharmacy business and disgorge any revenue received during the period of such violation;
—Enable private parties, including independent pharmacists, to bring lawsuits against violators of the bill, and secure treble damages in successful lawsuits;
—Direct the FTC to distribute any revenue raised by penalties to harmed communities, including consumers overcharged at vertically integrated pharmacies;
—Allow the FTC and DOJ to review and block future actions that would recreate the anticompetitive conditions addressed by the bill or harm the public interest.
Additionally, Senator Hawley recently announced his "No Taxes on Healthcare" proposal to provide relief for American families from out-of-control medical costs that have skyrocketed in recent years. He has also fought for rural hospital funding, securing an additional $1B in funding for Missouri’s rural hospitals.
