Innovation and Technology

The NAM this week advocated the passage of two pieces of manufacturing-critical legislation, successfully driving the agenda of a Wednesday House Energy and Commerce Committee markup.

What’s going on: The committee—with the NAM’s strong support—approved two bills that address longstanding manufacturing priorities:

• A congressional resolution disapproving of the Environmental Protection Agency’s harmful PM2.5 rule
• A bill instituting important pharmacy benefit manager reforms

Reversing an unworkable PM2.5 standard: The EPA announced a new, more restrictive particulate matter standard in February, reducing allowable levels from 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 9 micrograms—despite a standard of 9 being “essentially background levels in some of the country,” as the NAM has pointed out.

• “Manufacturers have sharply reduced particulate matter emissions, or PM2.5; as a result, industry in the United States has some of the cleanest and most efficient operations in the world,” NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen told the committee.
• “Now, the vast majority of emissions are from sources well outside of our control, with fires, dirt roads and other nonpoint sources accounting for 84% of PM2.5 emissions,” Phalen continued. “[T]he EPA’s rule will make it more difficult for states to issue permits for the construction of new facilities or expansions of existing factories.”
• The committee’s PM2.5 resolution, offered under the Congressional Review Act, seeks to overturn the EPA’s unworkable standard.

Reforming PBMs: PBMs are unregulated middlemen whose business practices drive up health care costs for manufacturers and manufacturing workers.

• “By applying upward pressure to list prices that dictate what patients pay at the pharmacy counter, pocketing manufacturer rebates and failing to provide an appropriate level of transparency about their business practices, PBMs increase health care costs at the expense of all patients in America,” NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain said.
• Provisions in the NAM-supported Telehealth Modernization Act would increase transparency into PBMs’ business practices and delink their compensation from medicines’ list prices.

The last word: “Manufacturers commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for approving these important bills, which will reduce costs and enhance growth at manufacturers across the country—allowing our industry to continue to create jobs here at home and drive U.S. competitiveness on the world stage,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram.