Insurance companies and their middlemen, pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), have entirely too much control over the prescription drug marketplace. I saw this problem with my patients when I was a nurse, and I’m experiencing it firsthand now as a cardiac patient who also is living with rheumatoid arthritis. 

PBM policies like step therapy, prior authorization and patient steering all have served the same basic purpose for insurers and PBMs—to cut costs and maximize profits by limiting, delaying or denying access to care for patients. 

Often, PBMs will also force patients into paying for higher-cost medications and treatments when a lower-cost alternative may work just as well—all so they can inflate their profits even further. 

I find it shocking that Congress has not passed PBM reform last year or this year, particularly since there is growing bipartisan support for it. Pennsylvania Senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey Jr. should support PBM reform.  

Patients have waited long enough for legislators to stand up against insurers and PBMs. With the 2024 election season just heating up, this is an issue that I know I’ll be watching. Some of our lawmakers in Washington can’t afford to waste the opportunity to hold PBMs accountable again. 

For their sake and the wellbeing of patients nationwide, I hope Congress gets it right this time.

Veronica Comfort
Fogelsville, PA