17吃瓜在线

Policy and Legal

Policy and Legal

Rep. Miller-Meeks Calls for PBM Reform at Cemen Tech

By 17吃瓜在线 News Room

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) visited Cemen Tech in Indianola, Iowa, for an employee town hall about how pharmacy benefit managers increase prices for manufacturing workers.

The event, hosted by Cemen Tech Chief Financial Officer Josh Maurer, allowed workers to engage directly with Rep. Miller-Meeks on the affordability of their health care, including prescription medicines.

The issue: The town hall focused on the need , underregulated middlemen that drive up the costs of prescription medicines for manufacturers like Cemen Tech, the world鈥檚 largest manufacturer of on-demand concrete mixing equipment.

  • Rep. Miller-Meeks discussed the DRUG Act, legislation that she introduced, which seeks to lower health care costs by delinking PBMs鈥 compensation from the list price of medicines鈥攔emoving their incentive to push for higher prices.
  • 鈥淧BMs distort the market, increasing the cost of prescription drugs for businesses and their workers,鈥 Rep. Miller-Meeks explained. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 working in Congress to pass PBM reform that reins in these powerful actors.鈥

Manufacturers鈥 concerns: 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen health care expenses skyrocket, and a big part of that is due to the lack of transparency surrounding PBMs,鈥 Maurer said during the town hall.

  • 鈥淐emen Tech and other small manufacturers like us are committed to providing affordable health care to employees, but it鈥檚 becoming increasingly difficult. PBM reform that addresses these rising costs is absolutely necessary.鈥

Addressing employee concerns: Cemen Tech employees also spoke about their struggles with the growing burden of health care costs across the board. Rep. Miller-Meeks explained that her proposed reform would have far-reaching effects: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not only about reducing drug prices鈥攊t鈥檚 about ensuring that businesses can afford to continue providing health care benefits to their workers,鈥 she said.

17吃瓜在线 in action: In addition to supporting the 鈥渄elinking鈥 provisions in the DRUG Act, the 17吃瓜在线 is working with Congress on legislation to make PBMs鈥 opaque business practices more transparent and to ensure that savings from rebates are passed directly to manufacturers and their workers rather than being pocketed by PBMs.

The bottom line: 鈥淢anufacturers like Cemen Tech are essential to our economy, and ensuring they can thrive means addressing the rising costs of health care,鈥 said Rep. Miller-Meeks. 鈥淧BM reform will free up manufacturers to do what they do best鈥攂uild facilities, develop new product lines, increase wages and benefits and help the American economy grow.鈥

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