FMI, the Food Industry Association, expressed its support for the approval of a bill by the House Energy & Commerce Committee that would prohibit pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) from engaging in spread pricing in the Medicaid program.
Spread pricing refers to a practice in which PBMs charge a state or Medicaid managed care program more for a drug while reimbursing pharmacies at lower rates for dispensing the drug, keeping the difference or “spread.” The Patient Act of 2023 (H.R. 3561) would prohibit this practice and ensure that all pharmacies participating in state Medicaid programs are fairly reimbursed to cover their costs to acquire and dispense medications.
“Spread pricing in Medicaid inflates the cost of prescription drugs, with both patients and taxpayers left to foot the bill. It is also one of the many PBM anticompetitive tactics preventing FMI member companies from opening new pharmacies and causing some to have to leave the pharmacy business altogether,” FMI Chief Public Policy Officer Jennifer Hatcher said. “FMI greatly appreciates the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s bipartisan passage of this important legislation, which offers yet another opportunity to address one of the opaque and harmful practices that some PBMs use to secure greater profits at the expense of patients, pharmacies and employers.”
The bill was sponsored by Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Rick Allen (R-GA), and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA).
The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.
FMI represents a wide range of members across the value chain — from retailers that sell to consumers, to producers that supply food and other products, as well as the wide variety of companies providing critical services. Among its members are approximately 12,000 supermarket pharmacies its member companies operate.