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PBM Reform: Vertical Integration, Specialty Drug Tracking Among Differences In House v. Senate Bills

 
• By Sarah Karlin-Smith

House Energy and Commerce Committee cleared a PBM bill that seems to contain more transparency loopholes and makes more limited policy tweaks to the drug supply chain middleman than the Senate HELP Committee’s bill, but the House-side legislation would pull back the curtain on specialty-drug reimbursement in a way the Senate version does not.

view of NYC intersection from above
Senate HELP’s PBM transparency bill will likely yield more insights on PBM’s vertical integration than the House E&C’s. • Source: Shutterstock

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s pharmacy benefits management reform effort leaves some concerning gaps for stakeholders pushing for greater reform of the middleman who some argue may be doing more to drive up the costs of prescription drugs for patients and the US health system than drive them down.

Both Energy and Commerce and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee cleared PBM-focused legislation in May. With other...

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