CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — A celebration was held Friday in Cambria County to celebrate the general assembly passing legislation to reform the pharmacy benefit manager policy.
This legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Shapiro earlier this week, targets pharmacy benefits managers, hereafter refereed to as PBMs.
PBMs are considered “predatory middlemen,” who are responsible for billing the insurance agencies and then reimbursing the pharmacy.
Officials say they do this at unfair compensation levels, which hurts smaller pharmacies, but has less of an impact on larger corporate pharmacies.
In other words, they over-bill the drug companies and short charge the pharmacies.
Essentially, lawmakers say they’re responsible for the profit hoarding that has led to smaller pharmacies shuttering their operations.
“This legislation is a “win-win” for the people of Pennsylvania; and the insurance companies are going to have to live by the rules of this legislation. And this is just the tip of the iceberg as we try to figure out what else we can do to bring prescription drug costs down,” said Rep. Frank Burns.
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