Grassley: Finance Committee Will Discuss PBM Transparency Bill

DATE: January 11, 2019

Published by Inside Health Policy

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) will discuss a bill on pharmacy benefit manager transparency this session with his committee, a spokesman for the senator told Inside Health Policy. The bill, introduced last session by ranking Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden (OR), would force PBMs to disclose rebates provided by drug manufacturers, as well as the amount of rebates passed on to health plans.

Grassley did not co-sponsor Wyden’s bill — dubbed the Creating Transparency to Have Drug Rebates Unlocked (C-THRU) Act — last session, but the spokesman said Grassley would consider the ideas this Congress.

“Chairman Grassley has said PBMs lack transparency and how they work is too much of a mystery. Chairman Grassley agrees with many of the goals in Ranking Member Wyden’s legislation and will discuss it further within committee,” the Grassley spokesman said.

Grassley wrote in a blog post Friday (Jan. 11) that he is committed to lowering drug prices “using legislative and oversight remedies” to promote drug pricing transparency and keep tabs on the Trump administration’s efforts to change the prescription drug rebate system.

The Finance chairman offered these two issues as areas of focus in addition to bills he plugged earlier this week on pay-for-delay settlements (which now includes biosimilars in addition to generic drugs), personal prescription drug importation and ensuring generic drug manufacturers have access to brand samples necessary for drug development.

In addition to considering new legislation, Grassley said he would be working with and monitoring drug pricing developments in the executive branch.

Grassley wrote he would “keep check on the Trump administration” as it implements drug pricing policy, including changes to the current rebate structure.

“That includes working to fix flaws in the prescription drug rebate system and making sure the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration continue working to flesh out cost-saving policies to help patients and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission continue working to flush out bad actors gaming the system at the expense of American taxpayers, consumers and patients,” Grassley wrote.

In a briefing earlier this week, Grassley said he is “working very closely with (HHS Secretary Alex) Azar on what he can do administratively through regulation or guidance, and that basically fits in with what he’s doing to support what the president announced in June.”

Azar said in May that the administration was planning to modify the “rebate safe harbor on which the entire structure of the PBM industry is based.” HHS has a rule pending at the White House Office of Management and Budget that addresses changes to the current rebate system for plans and pharmacy benefit managers. The rule has been pending since July 2018.

Grassley also touted his proposed — and failed — amendment to require drug manufacturers disclose drug prices in direct-to-consumer advertising. The Trump administration proposed a rule on the subject last year.

“Price transparency will help drive down prices by increasing competition and empowering consumers to seek the best value,” Grassley wrote.

Click here to see the original article on the Inside Health Policy website.