Staten Island Reporter

(STATEN ISLAND, NY) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) hosted a roundtable today with national pharmacy associations and local pharmacies from New York’s 11th Congressional District. The event included representatives from Delco Drugs, Richmond Pharmacy & Surgical, St. George Pharmacy, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York.

The discussion focused on abusive practices by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which reportedly increase prescription drug costs and threaten independent pharmacies' viability. As a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Congresswoman Malliotakis has collaborated across party lines to advance legislative measures aimed at reducing prescription drug prices.

"As a lawmaker, I remain committed to getting our bipartisan solutions adopted by Congress to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans. It is important to hear directly from our local pharmacies and organizations to understand their everyday challenges and how it affects consumers," said Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis. "Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) who are the middlemen negotiating prices and reimbursements are out of control and lack transparency in their shady practices, allowing themselves to profit significantly by controlling a big chunk of commercial insurers and network pharmacies and dictating what their independent pharmacy competitors can earn, oftentimes driving them out of business. Ultimately, this reduces access to and drives up what patients pay for prescription drugs and is why 30% of Americans say they are forced to skip dosages of critical and life-saving medication. I am pleased that two of my bills to reign in PBMs have a broad coalition of support and hopeful that they will be considered by the entire House in the coming months."

Congresswoman Malliotakis introduced H.R.4881, The Protecting Patients from Middlemen Act. This legislation would prohibit prescription drug plans and PBMs in Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage from charging patients more in drug cost-sharing than the net price of the drug. The bill ensures that Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage patients will never pay more than what insurers pay for medications.

Congresswoman Malliotakis is also co-leading bipartisan legislation H.R. 2880, The Protecting Patients Against PDM Abuses Act with Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-04). This bill aims to establish requirements for Medicare PBMs regarding remuneration, payments, and fees.

Additionally, Congresswoman Malliotakis has cosponsored H.R.1613, the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act of 2023, which mandates pass-through pricing models for PBM payment arrangements under Medicaid while prohibiting spread-pricing. It also extends funding for retail pharmacy surveys and requires additional information on price concessions to be publicly available.

She has also supported H.R.1770, the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act which ensures continued Medicare coverage for pharmacist-administered tests for common respiratory illnesses such as influenza, RSV, strep throat, COVID-19; it allows pharmacists to prescribe treatments based on test results and administer vaccines when available.