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The House voted this afternoon in favor of a bill that will end the partial government shutdown and provide funding for several agencies (CNBC). It also includes much-needed reforms targeting pharmacy benefits managers.

• The bill now heads to President Trump’s desk for signing. 

The NAM responds: The NAM has long urged Congress to set limits on PBMs in order to lower health care costs for manufacturers and their families.

• “Rising health care costs continue to be one of the top challenges facing manufacturers , especially small and medium-sized manufacturers. The NAM has long championed efforts to rein in PBMs, underregulated middlemen who drive up costs by dictating what Americans pay at the pharmacy counter. The reforms adopted by Congress today are an important step toward delivering long-overdue transparency and accountability to these powerful actors,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons today.
• “As Congress and the Trump administration rightly continue to focus on health care affordability, biopharmaceutical manufacturers are already working to bring down costs and keep lifesaving health care accessible for Americans, including through direct-to-patient platforms that offer lower cost medications to patients who need them. Combined with the reforms to telehealth and expansion of the use of health savings accounts included in H.R. 1, lawmakers are demonstrating their commitment to lowering the cost of health care in the U.S.”