By: Emily Stack

Democrats this summer are working to bring our country a step closer to socialized medicine by slipping a Bernie Sanders-backed pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform measure into a broader insulin cap package that is expected to receive a vote in the coming months.

Senator Sanders has long fought for a government takeover of our healthcare system, but he’s faced resistance at every turn given the unpopularity of socialized medicine in the U.S.. His new tactic to achieve this goal is to dismantle our healthcare system piecemeal, slowly bringing us closer to government-run healthcare and hoping no one notices. 

This is why we need Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) to stand firm against Sanders’ PBM Reform Act and prevent Senate Democrats from secretly slipping the bill into the insulin cap package. 

PBMs handle prescription drug benefits for various entities such as health insurers, Medicare Part D drug plans, large employers, and other payers. Their main task is to negotiate with drug manufacturers and pharmacies in order to decrease drug costs for patients. And they do so effectively. Through a wide variety of tactics, such as negotiating with drug manufacturers and offering their own mail-order and specialty pharmacy services, PBMs save the average patient over $1,000 a year on prescription medication. 

Senator Sanders’ bill moves the U.S. closer to socialized healthcare by instituting burdensome government red tape across the private healthcare marketplace and distorting the medical marketplace by dismantling private healthcare agreements - to the detriment of both patients and taxpayers.

The competitive and private-sector negotiations facilitated by PBMs have been instrumental in transforming Medicare Part D into a rare government program that has significantly surpassed cost-saving expectations. The Congressional Budget Office in 2005 projected that Part D would burden taxpayers with $172 billion in expenses by 2015. Remarkably, the actual cost turned out to be less than half - only $75 billion - thanks in large part to the negotiating powers of PBMs.

The price controls that Sen. Sanders is pushing seldom deliver the expected results and often create more problems than they solve. But as was seen with Medicare Part D, PBMs effectiveness surpassed initial predictions and effectively managed taxpayer costs. 

It is unnecessary for the government to intervene in a system that is already functioning exceptionally well, particularly one that remains extremely competitive. There are over 70 PBMs across the country, with no barriers to entry, which is why we see entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban setting up their own pharmacy benefit networks, and companies like Walmart engaging.

It is absolutely imperative that Republicans unite against the efforts of Senate Democrats, led by Sen Sanders, to advance their liberal agenda on healthcare. If we allow them to push through their misguided policies, we will undoubtedly witness a catastrophic decline in both patient care and business viability. This is precisely why we need a strong and principled leader like Sen. Budd to firmly stand against the PBM Reform Act.