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Manufacturers have long offered their employees health insurance and want to continue doing so—but the rising cost of health care is a persistent challenge, the NAM told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health ahead of its Wednesday hearing on lowering health care costs.

What’s going on: Health “benefits are an effective tool to attract and retain employees and to maintain a healthy and productive workforce; manufacturers also know that keeping employees and their families healthy is the right thing to do,” the NAM shared with the subcommittee.

• However, 70% of respondents in the most recent Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey “cited health care and insurance costs as their primary business concern”—and these are disproportionately affecting small and medium-sized companies.

The hearing: The hearing focused on the prescription drug supply chain, and the NAM emphasized biopharmaceutical manufacturers’ focus on “continued innovation that leads to the development of new and better prescription drugs,” which improve patients’ lives.

• These companies are committed to lowering costs for patients. In fact, “many manufacturers offer patients the option to buy their medications directly, through a direct to patient platform.”

What should be done: There are steps Congress can take to relieve manufacturers of the growing burden of rising health care costs, while still supporting innovative biopharmaceutical manufacturers that produce new and improved lifesaving and life-improving drugs, said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Jake Kuhns and NAM Director of Health Care Policy Jess Wysocky. These steps include the following:

• Reining in pharmacy benefit managers: These largely unregulated middlemen increase the cost of prescription drugs. Congress included some critical reforms in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 and should build on this progress by delinking PBM compensation from list prices in the commercial market.
• Reforming the 340B program: Created to expand care access for low-income and underserved populations, this federal program has “massively expanded beyond Congress’ intent.” To return it to Congress’ original intent, Congress should consider the reforms in Rep. Buddy Carter’s (R-GA) 340B ACCESS Act (H.R. 5256), which “would update the patient definition, prevent PBMs from profiting off of the program and standardize child site and sub-grantee eligibility, among other provisions.”
• Expanding eligibility and contribution limits for health savings accounts: Congress should raise contribution limits and expand eligibility of HSAs so more people can benefit from these tax-free accounts.
• Fully resourcing the Food and Drug Administration: Adequate staffing and on-time reviews let U.S. companies plan with confidence and reduce delays, ensuring the U.S. remains the leader of biopharmaceutical innovation. Congress should “ensure FDA is fully funded and staffed so biopharmaceutical manufacturers can get new therapies to patients as quickly as possible.”