New Yorkers know the affordability crisis all too well: Rent is among the highest in the country, taxes take a hefty bite out of paychecks, and even routine household expenses can feel like luxury purchases.
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expenses → know → purchases
For many New Yorkers, prescription drugs are another unavoidable expense, with the average person spending over $100 a month on their medications.
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person → spend → medications
Yet lawmakers in Albany and beyond aren’t looking for ways to make medicine cheaper.
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medicine → look → ways
Instead, they’re pursuing policies that could undermine patient access to local pharmacies and discourage the development of new treatments in America.
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that → pursue → America
Politicians want to micromanage the pharmaceutical supply chain — even if that brings about higher prices.
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that → want → prices
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The New York state legislature has sent a bill to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) desk that would require pharmacy benefit managers to reimburse pharmacies at a minimum rate tied to a federal benchmark, plus a $10.18 dispensing fee for each prescription.
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that → send → prescription
The proposal is expected to cost roughly $576 million, which lawmakers insist pharmacies and PBMs will absorb rather than pass on to consumers.
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pharmacies → expect → consumers
It’s another piece of legislation in a long list of state and federal proposals to scapegoat PBMs for the high cost of various prescription drugs.
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It → ’ → drugs
They perform a function that the pharmaceutical market actually needs.
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market → perform → that
PBMs aggregate millions of prescriptions and negotiate with drugmakers and pharmacies on behalf of insurers, employers, and patients.
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PBMs → aggregate → insurers
Their purchasing power allows them to bargain over prices, build pharmacy networks, and manage prescription benefits at a scale that individual patients and small employers simply cannot match.
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patients → purchase → that
Rather than seeking how to leverage this business savvy for greater cost-savings, including in government services such as the Medicaid system, the New York bill would saddle these financial operators with part of the bill for all New Yorkers’ medication orders.
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bill → seek → orders
As a result, drug prices will only inflate, and many integrated pharmacies may leave the state.
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pharmacies → inflate → state
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) signed legislation barring companies such as CVS, Cigna, and UnitedHealth from owning both a PBM and a pharmacy — alleging that this vertical integration distorts drug prices and squeezes out smaller, independent pharmacies.
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integration → sign → pharmacies
While the law is in court, CVS has explicitly stated that the legislation may force them to close all 23 of their retail pharmacy locations in the state and lay off over 500 workers if implemented.
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legislation → state → workers
Sixteen states have already enacted similar mandates to New York, with fees up to $15 per prescription.
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states → enact → prescription
Some politicians are even calling for more extreme proposals, such as Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul el Sayed suggesting a total ban on PBMs in his crusade to socialize healthcare.
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Sayed → call → healthcare
But the fact that politicians across the country are reaching for the same lever doesn’t make the lever work.
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lever → reach → lever
Before Albany joins in the chorus, lawmakers should ask the obvious question: Will patients actually get cheaper prescriptions?
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patients → join → prescriptions
Lawmakers should turn their attention to the constraints on the new drug approval process, limited domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, and other regulations, such as those on transportation, affecting the supply chain.
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Lawmakers → turn → chain
If Albany wants cheaper medicine, it should focus on expanding supply and competition rather than dictating how much pharmacies and PBMs must pay each other.
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pharmacies → want → other
Pharmacies need to stay open.
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Pharmacies → need → ?
Patients need affordable access to medicine.
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Patients → need → medicine
PBMs need the freedom to use their purchasing power to negotiate lower prices.
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PBMs → need → prices
New Yorkers don’t need Albany to negotiate their prescriptions for them.
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Albany → need → them
They need Albany to let the market negotiate a better deal.
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market → need → deal
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