Laura Raya, senior resident in San Bernardino regarding her experience and call for attention Pharmacy Benefit Managers.
Dear editor,
As someone who has struggled with multiple health issues—I’ve suffered a stroke and live with high blood pressure as well as Hashimoto’s disease—prescription drug access and affordability are critically important to me. Our leaders in Washington need to do more to help increase access to live-saving treatments and medications while reducing the burdensome out-of-pocket costs that hurt patients like me.
Congress can do that by working overtime in January to pass legislation that reforms Pharmacy Benefit Managers, (or PBMs) and the profit-driven practices and policies they use to the detriment of patient access. It is extremely disappointing that Congress couldn’t get this job done last year, especially with so many legislative options and supporters on both sides of the aisle.
California’s congressional delegation to the House should work together with their colleagues to pass PBM reform in the next few weeks, including both the Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging Act as well as the Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act. These bills would go a long way in increasing PBM transparency and accountability in order to help improve access and bring patients’ out-of-pocket costs down.
With the 2024 elections approaching, California’s federal lawmakers should push for passage of PBM reform in January, before it’s too late and yet another issue that impacts vulnerable Californians gets lost in the legislative shuffle. We need PBM reform now, not later.
Laura Raya
