Pharmacy benefit manager reform would cut drug costs

Being a registered nurse is deeply rewarding, but it isn’t easy. As someone who has been in this field for a decade, I know it’s always heartbreaking to hear stories from patients who have had to face extraordinarily difficult decisions in order to access their treatments and medications.

With the recent celebration of National Nurses Week, it’s important to highlight concerns over the stress that high out-ofpocket costs can create for our patients, many of whom are quite literally fighting for their lives. In my current role as a dialysis nurse, I would also love to see more advancements in treatment and therapy so patients can avoid having to be hooked up to a dialysis machine altogether.

Congress can address these issues by avoiding prescription price setting, which could restrict the resources needed to develop next-generation treatments and cures, and focus instead on reforming pharmacy benefit managers.

Pharmacy benefit managers are the health care intermediaries that dictate where and when a patient can access their prescriptions. They are supposed to work with drug manufacturers to get discounts on prescriptions to help reduce out-ofpocket costs for patients. Instead they typically just keep these savings for themselves, increasing profits while making vulnerable patients pay more in out-of-pocket expenses.

There is now legislation, the HELP Copays Act, in both the House and Senate to reform these harmful practices. Congress should pass these bills as fast as possible — and New York’s congressional delegation should help lead the way.

Amanda Fetter