SCPC Praises House Energy and Commerce Leaders’ Ongoing Query of PBM Drug Pricing Role

DATE: September 4, 2018

Washington, DC – The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) today thanked House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and key sub-committee Chairs Gregg Harper (R-MS) and Michael Burgess (R-TX) for issuing a new round of letters to a range of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) seeking to further understand their role in the drug pricing chain and ultimate impact on pricing.

“SCPC thanks Chairman Walden and Reps. Harper and Burgess for making a new round of queries to PBM CEOs seeking more details about their pricing practices and the nature and rationale of various ‘incentives’ to encourage reductions in list prices,” said Alan G. Rosenbloom, President and CEO of SCPC, the only federal advocacy organization devoted exclusively to the interests of the nation’s long-term care (LTC) pharmacies and the patients they serve.

Earlier this summer, the three Energy and Commerce Committee leaders asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to better understand how PBM mergers and the rapid pace of consolidation is affecting both consumer drug prices and the health care marketplace more broadly.

Rosenbloom noted just three PBMs already administer more than 90% of prescriptions dispensed to seniors in the nation’s LTC facilities — and maintains PBM mergers and acquisitions, rapid vertical and horizontal integration, and stubborn adherence to opaque business practices threatens patients in LTC settings, undermines the nation’s commitment to free and fair markets, and ultimately places LTC pharmacies at a competitive disadvantage.

LTC pharmacies, a distinct subset within the pharmacy community, serve a specialized population of seniors in skilled nursing centers, assisted living facilities and other residential care settings. The typical patient suffers from multiple chronic conditions, significant impairments in daily living activities, mild to moderate dementia, and takes 12-13 prescription medications daily – making drug prices and access to needed medications an essential variable in maintaining vulnerable seniors’ health and well-being.

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The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition (SCPC) is the only national organization exclusively representing the interests of LTC pharmacies. Its members operate in all 50 states and serve 750,000 patients daily in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities across the country. Visit seniorcarepharmacies.org to learn more.