Budzinski Champions Legislation to Crack Down on Predatory Drug Pricing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) announced her support for the bipartisan Pharmacists Fight Back Act which would prohibit large Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) from manipulating drug prices and restricting network access and patient choice in federal healthcare plans. Under the current system, PBMs act as middlemen between manufacturers, insurers and pharmacies - inflating drug prices at the expense of patients, community pharmacies and American taxpayers. PBMs frequently require patients to get brand-name medications even when a cheaper generic version is available. The Pharmacists Fight Back Act cracks down on these predatory practices by implementing a transparent pharmacy reimbursement model using market-based pricing. It also removes the ability of PBMs to restrict patient choice through network exclusions and protects community pharmacists by prohibiting PBMs from steering patients toward PBM-affiliated pharmacies. “For