President Trump has announced an agreement with Pfizer to reduce drug prices in the United States. The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) responded by acknowledging this move as positive, but emphasized that broader reforms are needed, particularly targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurance companies.
B. Douglas Hoey, CEO of NCPA, stated: "The president is absolutely right that American patients and taxpayers should not be subsidizing lower drug prices around the world. He is also right that we need to reduce our reliance on foreign countries that now supply the active ingredients for some of our most critical drugs. However, we don’t want the president or Congress to lose their focus on reforming the health insurance/PBM conglomerates that have created this crisis in the first place."
Alongside the Pfizer deal, the White House introduced TrumpRx, a program intended to let patients buy certain medications online at government-negotiated rates. According to Hoey, many large pharmaceutical companies already offer some drugs directly to consumers through similar websites. He explained that these initiatives aim to bypass PBMs and insurers who profit from complex arrangements that drive up costs for both patients and taxpayers. However, he cautioned that such direct-to-consumer programs do not address cost issues for insured Americans whose expenses are inflated by rebates and fees tied to PBM practices.
Hoey added: "The insurance companies and their PBMs get paid more when patients and taxpayers pay more. That’s the problem. All these manufacturer websites are workarounds. They don’t fix the heart of the problem." He called on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation focused on PBM reform, stating: "There’s a reform package in Congress that has wide bipartisan support. Congress should pass it now. With the president’s signature, Americans will benefit from the lower prescription drug prices they deserve."
He also raised concerns about patient safety if new programs diminish contact between patients and pharmacists: "While there are very few details, TrumpRx appears to bypass the relationship between patients and their local physicians and pharmacists. Direct-to-Patient programs can be dangerous," Hoey said. "A website can’t counsel patients, recognize other potential health risks, or follow up to make sure patients are taking their medicines at the right time and in the right amount. The unreliability, unpredictability, and risks of mail order drugs is already well documented. We strongly support the president’s goal of lowering drug prices, which is why we urge him to maintain his focus on PBM reform even as he implements these new programs."
Further information about NCPA can be found at www.ncpa.org.
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