Britt McIntyre: Op-ed on HELP Copays Act/Pharmacy Benefit Managers
As a female who has struggled with issues from a young age, I’m passionate about women’s health issues and deeply concerned about maintaining access to critical medications, treatments, and therapies that can help address a number of symptoms and side effects of a range of conditions, from endometriosis to PCOS to various cancers.
Congress can and should do more to help ensure access to vital, physician-prescribed drugs by working to reduce the high out-of-pocket costs that can keep them just out of reach for vulnerable patients who need them most. I’m thankful to North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd for supporting legislation—the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act—to address these concerns by reforming the profit-driven business practices of so-called Pharmacy Benefit Managers.
Though they operate with surprisingly little oversight and accountability, PBMs control approximately 80% of the prescriptions available today. They use policies like prior authorization and pharmacy steering to control precisely when and where patients can get their prescribed medications and treatments, often creating access issues and unnecessary delays for patients in the process.
Even more reprehensible is the fact that PBMs will work with manufacturers to secure prescription drug rebates and discounts; however, instead of passing those down to patients to help reduce their out-of-pocket burden, PBMs will just keep the savings for themselves in order to boost their already massive profit margins.
To protect patient access and prescription drug affordability, Congress should pass the HELP Act and reform the highly questionable practices of PBMs.
Britt McIntyre
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