The United States House of Representative Bill 4317 was enacted this week and now requires 100% Rebate Pass-Through of all rebates and fees to customers. Drug companies were giving every Pharmacy Benefit Management company different rebates. This was a very anticompetitive practice. The House Bill 4317 requires Pharmacy Benefit Management companies to pass through all rebates and fees to customers, plus delinks compensation from drug prices, prohibits spread pricing with Medicare/Medicaid, and mandates transparency in Medicare Part D pricing. The Delinking of Compensation, prohibits PBMs from basing compensation on the price of the drugs, requiring them to receive flat administrative fees. This allows for end users like General Motors and all other companies, to understand the real costs. The House Bill 4317 mandates increased transparency in PBM practices and prohibits spread pricing with Medicare/Medicaid. This bill took almost 25 years to finally pass.
For 20 plus years, drug companies have been selling their drugs at a lower price point to Canadian pharmacies, so finally a president has tried to address the problem, with House Bill 4317. Tariffs have allowed the president another tool to address the inequities in drug pricing to foreign countries. Health care costs have gone from 5 percent of the United States economy to 20 percent of the economy. Hopefully equity among drug prices, with developed countries, should bring down all costs for the United States consumer.
