If you ask any Missouri family what’s stretching their wallets the most, you’ll likely hear the same thing: higher prices on everything. Gas, groceries, rent – you name it, it costs more. But one of the most painful price hikes has been on prescription drugs. Families across Missouri are skipping medications because they are struggling to make ends meet. And instead of fixing the problem, some lawmakers in Jefferson City are pushing bills that will make it worse.
Senate Bill 45 and several others would strip away key measures that keep prescription drug prices in check. The bills target Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), which negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of more than 275 million Americans, including millions in Missouri. PBMs are the last line of defense between Missouri families and pharmaceutical companies. Big Pharma exploits working-class Americans with their monopoly power, charging artificially sky-high prices. Luckily, PBMs bargain for better deals. Without them, Big Pharma would have free rein to charge whatever they want.
The bills would eliminate the ability of health plans, through PBMs, to offer patients lower-cost pharmacy options – like having an in-network doctor that costs less – driving up costs for patients and employers alike. They will limit the ability of health plans to offer certain choices of home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and cost-saving measure that also helps patients stay consistent with their medications. And they will block health plans from creating networks which control the costs of expensive medications for complex medical conditions. Altogether, these changes would make prescription drugs more expensive for everyone, with Missouri families and businesses paying the price.
Pharmaceutical companies would love nothing more than to see these bills pass. Their business model depends on maximizing profits, and they see PBMs as an obstacle. By limiting the ability of PBMs to negotiate and lower costs, these bills weaken one of the few forces in Missouri’s healthcare system actually working to lower drug prices. That’s why we should be very clear about what’s at stake here. Supporters of these bills claim they are about “protecting patient choice,” but there’s not much of a choice when you can’t afford your medication to begin with.
Patients don’t need laws that make it easier for Big Pharma to charge more. They need laws that encourage competition and lower prices. The average patient
saves
over $1,000 a year thanks to PBM negotiations. Take that away, and the only winner is the pharmaceutical industry. These bills don’t lower drug prices, they just shift the cost burden onto families, employers, and taxpayers. That’s not reform. Rather, it’s a handout to the very companies that created this crisis in the first place.
At a time when Missouri families are struggling to keep up with inflation, the last thing lawmakers should be doing is making prescription drugs even more expensive. I encourage Missouri’s lawmakers to make the right decision to reject these bills and stand with patients, not with Big Pharma.
Missourians deserve a healthcare system that works for them, not for corporate interests. The choice is clear – do lawmakers protect the people they were elected to serve, or do they cave to the pharmaceutical lobby? Let’s do what’s right and stop these bills before they make a bad situation even worse. Missouri’s families deserve better.
Registered Nurse in St. Louis
