Harshbarger Introduces Bill To Lower Drug Costs By Eliminating conflict Of Interest Arrangement

US Representative Diana Harshbarger on Wednesday introduced legislation that could lower prescription drug costs by prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies. Pharmacy Benefit Managers are the middlemen between pharmacies and health insurance companies. Harshbarger points out that the large Phamacy Benefit Managers in many cases now own pharmacies, creating a huge conflict of interest that has been enriching these healthcare conglomerates at the expence of patients and independent pharmacies, who cannot compete fairly in this type of environment.

The bi-partisan legislation introduced by Harshbarger and house democrat Jake Auchincloss of Massachusettes, is called the PBM Act, or Patients Before Monopolies. Just a part of what this bill would do includes prohibiting a parent company of a PBM or a health insurer from owning a pharmacy business AND Requiring that a parent company in violation of the PBM Act divest its pharmacy business within three years.

Harshbarger said in a statement yesterday that while she is a proud republican, the US has anti-trust laws for a reason. She added that her legislation would protect consumers and taxpayers, and ensure fair competition by breaking up what she called anticompetitive, conflict-of-interest arrangements.

The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)