Bloomberg Law
March 22, 2023, 6:58 PM

Republicans Balk at Pharmacy Middlemen Crackdown Absent FTC Post

Alex Ruoff
Alex Ruoff
Reporter

A Senate committee advanced a bipartisan bill prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from clawing back certain payments or increasing fees to pharmacies in an effort to curb drug prices.

But some Republicans say the legislation shouldn’t move until the Federal Trade Commission, which has scrutinized the pharmaceutical industry middlemen, has more commissioners from their side of the aisle.

The pharmacy benefit managers bill (S. 127) advanced from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on a 18-9 vote. It’s one of the more expansive pieces of legislation addressing the sector, seeking to end certain clawbacks — when PBMs ...

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