Prepared Floor Remarks by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
It’s Time to Act on Lowering Rx Costs
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

 
As a leading advocate for lowering drug prices in the Senate, I’ve hauled Big Pharma and pharmacy benefit manager (or PBM) executives before Congress, led a two-year bipartisan investigation insulin price gouging and introduced bipartisan reforms to lower the cost of insulin and many other prescription drugs.
 
In the past few years, legislation I’ve championed into law has saved taxpayers $9.6 billion.
 
Right now, the Senate is not acting on bipartisan legislation to lower drug costs.
 
I support a bipartisan plan by Senators Collins and Shaheen that establishes a $35 out-of-pocket cap on insulin for patients with private insurance, while also reforming PBMs, the powerful middlemen who are behind rising drug prices.
 
If you don’t address PBM reform, a cap on out-of-pocket costs will only result in shifting patient costs somewhere else.
 
In my two-year bipartisan insulin investigation, we found that a drug’s list price is tied to rebates and other fees that drug companies have to pay to PBMs.
 
The scheme encourages drug makers to spike the list price of the drug to offer a greater rebate, and in turn, secure priority placement on a health plan’s list of covered medications.
 
We have to hold PBMs accountable to lower prescription drugs costs.
 
In 2018, I called on the Federal Trade Commission to assess consolidation in the pharmaceutical supply chain and its impact on drug price.
 
But I didn’t wait for the FTC to act.
 
I introduced the Prescription Pricing for the People with Senator Cantwell, and it was approved out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously last year.
 
A few months ago the FTC agreed to conduct a study of PBM business practices.
 
This is welcomed news, but the FTC needs to complete this study timely.
 
Last week, I asked FTC Chair Khan about when the PBM study would be completed.
 
Chair Khan didn’t commit to a date.
 
While we need more sunshine on PBMs, we don’t need to wait to take some action.
 
Senator Cantwell and I have introduced the PBM Transparency Act, and it’s been approved by the Commerce Committee on a vote of 19-9.
 
The bill prohibits PBMs from engaging in spread pricing and clawbacks.
 
Both actions game the system and hurt consumers.
 
When the majority party pursued a partisan reckless tax and spending package, I filed the Grassley-Wyden Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act as an amendment with ten Republican cosponsors, showing that the majority party could have chosen to pass drug pricing reform on a bipartisan basis if they wanted to.
 
The bill establishes PBM accountability and transparency – something missing from the reconciliation bill.
 
Mr. President, we have bipartisan prescription drug legislation awaiting action.
 
This includes the bipartisan plan to lower insulin prices and my two bills to hold PBMs accountable.
 
I’ve also led out of the Judiciary Committee three bipartisan bills to establish more competition to lower prescription drug prices.
 
They save taxpayers a combined $1.9 billion.

Mr. President, the Senate must act on six bipartisan bills to lower insulin costs, hold PBMs accountable and establish more competition to lower prescription drug prices.