Rep. Harshbarger Introduces Patient Right To Shop Act

On Tuesday, US Rep. for the First District Diana Harshbarger introduced the Patient Right to Shop Act, a bipartisan bill which will prohibit gag clauses in pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) contracts to ensure patients can conveniently access information on the cost of their prescription drugs. A press release from Harshbarger’s office says that to compare the costs of prescription drugs, patients often use third-party transparency tools provided by their health plan or self-insured employer. These third-party tools enter into data-sharing agreements with insurers, as well as PBMs, to provide patients with online cost-saving insights, such as out-of-pocket costs and copayment. However, PBMs often insert anti-consumer ‘gag clauses’ into such agreements, which prohibit insurers from sharing this information with patients, sometimes even charging patients for access to their own data. Rep. Harshbarger says under the proposed legislation, group health plans and health insurance issuers would be prohibited into entering data-sharing agreements that contain ‘gag clauses’, ensuring patients get unrestricted access to data on the cost of prescription drugs and that would better allow them to make sound, cost-effective decisions regarding their healthcare.

The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), and was incorporated into the Senate’s bipartisan PBM Reform Act, S. 1339.