February 5, 2024

U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I am writing to express our opposition to H.R. 6283, the Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act and urge you to vote against reporting this bill out of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability when it is marked up on Tuesday, February 6, 2023.  This legislation would impose duplicative and onerous regulations on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), resulting in higher costs and fewer options for patients.  

Today, PBMs administer plans for more than 275 million Americans nationwide.  PBMs save payers and patients an average of $1,040 per person per year.  PBMs use various tools like rebates, pharmacy networks, drug utilization review, formularies, specialty pharmacies, mail-order, and audits to drive down drug costs, improve quality, increase patient medication adherence, and prevent fraud.  By negotiating on behalf of large groups, PBMs drive down patient costs.  This legislation is a big government solution in search of a problem and will not lower drug prices for patients.  The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program already does not allow spread pricing and requires flat fees, which makes the provisions in H.R. 6283 that prohibit spread pricing and a percentage of the drug price moot.  The legislation would also prevent “patient steering,” under which PBMs encourage or require patients to use affiliated pharmacies.  This provision would increase costs, especially for mail order prescriptions. 

 H.R. 6283 would hinder a PBM’s ability to safely dispense specialty drugs through a regulated specialty pharmacy network, which requires stringent quality and patient safety standards.  The potential cost to taxpayers and the impact on consumers of H.R. 6283 necessitates a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) before a vote is taken in the committee.

For the above reasons, I urge you to oppose H.R. 6283 and refrain from imposing unnecessary and harmful regulations on PBMs that will result in higher costs and fewer options for patients.