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Editor, News-Register:
Like many others, my father struggles with some health issues related to long-COVID. For these folks, there's still a long road of medical and financial uncertainty ahead. I would like to see more being done to expand research into the long-term impact of COVID and to help control the costs associated with long-term care and treatment.
Congress can start by avoiding more prescription price-setting policies, which could inadvertently restrict researchers' resources to continue finding and developing new, life-saving treatments and cures. Instead, lawmakers should focus on helping reduce out-of-pocket costs for patients at the pharmacy counter, costs that quickly add up and threaten access to vital prescription medications and treatments.
To do that, Congress should work to reform the harmful practices Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) use to boost their profits while forcing millions of Americans to pay more in out-of-pocket expenses. Controlling 80% of the prescriptions on the market today, PBMs use policies to cut costs and literally steer profits toward the pharmacies they own or are affiliated with, threatening patient access while driving up out-of-pocket costs.
Luckily, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate has introduced the Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging Act. If passed, this legislation would help rein and reform PBMs to ensure their practices aren't hurting patient access or affordability. Congress should pass this legislation without delay to preserve medical research and innovation while addressing the high costs of care for patients.
Tammy Durrah
Glen Dale