A key legislative priority championed by the independent drugstore lobby, HR 971, that would provide pharmacists with new, sweeping collective bargaining rights could increase prescription drug costs for Medicare and commercial payors by 11.8 percent, or $29.6 billion, over five years, according to a new analysis from CRA International released by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA).
PCMA is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for more than 210 million Americans with health coverage provided through Fortune 500 employers, health insurance plans, labor unions, and Medicare Part D.
"The independent drugstore lobby wants a license to collude so that it can demand higher prices from patients and payors and reap more profit for themselves," said PCMA President Mark Merritt. "Independent pharmacists already have a number of legitimate avenues to negotiate with PBMs. This legislation would instead result in employers reducing health insurance coverage for their employees to compensate for increased prescription drug costs."
Among the key findings from the CRA International analysis of HR 971, "the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act," sponsored by Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.):