WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) are leading 12 of their colleagues in urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to complete its investigation into the health care industry’s most powerful prescription drug middlemen. The bipartisan senators are also requesting a status update on the investigation, which has now been open for over 18 months.

“We support the [FTC’s] issuance of a Section 6(b) order and conducting a timely study of pharmacy benefits managers’ (PBM) business practices,” the senators wrote in their letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan. “With the FTC’s inquiry reaching its year-and-a-half mark, we urge the FTC to complete the study without delay. In the interim, we believe it is important to know the status of the study and therefore ask the FTC to issue a progress report.” 

The FTC launched its inquiry in June 2022, after Grassley pressed the commission for years to review PBMs’ role in determining prices for prescriptions like insulin. That October, he and a bipartisan group of senators called on the FTC to expedite its investigation. Today’s push for answers follows recent committee passage of Grassley- and Cantwell-led measures targeting prescription drug costs and directing heightened PBM oversight. 

  • March 2023: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation advanced the PBM Transparency Act, a bill to authorize the FTC to hold PBMs accountable for unfair or deceptive practices. 
  • February 2023: The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Prescription Drug Pricing for the People Act, a bill to require the FTC to study anti-competitiveness in the health care industry and report back to Congress. 
  • Throughout 2023: The Senate committees on Finance (July, November) and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions advanced bills to bolster transparency among PBMs. 

PBMs manage every aspect of the prescription drugs benefit process – from setting prescription prices, to deciding which drugs insurance plans cover and how they’re dispensed. Of the six companies under FTC investigation, three control nearly 80 percent of the market. Despite PBMs’ sweeping influence, neither Congress nor the taxpayer has adequate visibility into their operations. By shining a light on PBMs, Grassley, Cantwell and their colleagues are working to identify causes for the skyrocketing prices patients are paying for their prescriptions, as well as solutions to address them.  

Grassley and Cantwell are joined by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). 

Read the full letter HERE.

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