PCMA Responds to "Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act"

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) released the following statement on legislation, the "Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act," introduced today in the Senate:

"We support the patient always paying the lowest cost at the pharmacy counter, whether it's the cash price or the copay. This is standard industry practice in both Medicare and the commercial sector.

We would oppose contracting that prohibits drugstores from sharing with patients the cash price they charge for each drug.  These rates are set entirely at the discretion of each pharmacy and can vary significantly from drugstore to drugstore.

Fortunately, to the degree this issue was ever rooted in more than anecdotal information, it has been addressed in the marketplace."

PCMA is the national association representing America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs administer prescription drug plans for more than 266 million Americans who have health insurance from a variety of sponsors including: commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, union plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), state government employee plans, Medicaid plans, and others.

SOURCE Pharmaceutical Care Management Association