Mike Collins: “Representative Scott brings out this issue with passion. That is exactly what we need as we go forward in this…”

“Representative Scott brings out this issue with passion. That is exactly what we need as we go forward in this discussion. This is exactly what the PBMs don't want to have. They don't want to have transparency. They don't want to talk about it. We have been talking about it now for years on this floor. It just continues to get worse. In fact, the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act that we are getting ready to introduce--and Mr. Scott and others are part of it-- just the other day they were trying to undercut this bill. I recently saw an interview with Mark Merritt. He is the CEO of PCMA, the trade group for PBMs. The article misrepresented PBMs' role in the marketplace. Now, that is a shocker, really. Distorting the facts to protect PBMs' ability to continue profiting at the expense of beneficiaries and taxpayers. So tonight let's have a little fact check. Let's look at the claims by Mr. Merritt versus the truth. First, Mr. Merritt claimed that PBMs play an important role in negotiating price discounts in order to pass those savings along to customers. In fact, what he said was: We have an interest in lower price or bigger discounts . . . and we're going to negotiate the most aggressive discounts we can. Well, it is true that PBMs do effectively negotiate huge discounts. However, the patients never see this discount or rebates reflected in their prices or out-of-pocket costs. These rebates and discounts merely pad PBMs' profit margins.…”