HELP Copays Act

As someone who has lived with asthma their whole life, I’ve always relied on having access to the right prescription inhalers and medications I need to manage my symptoms day to day.

That’s why I was grateful to see Representative Buddy Carter recently introduce the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act, which targets the questionable practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who increase their profits at the expense of patients like me.

Many people—patients and policymakers included—may not even know what PBMs are or what they do, but essentially, they are healthcare middlemen that control over 80% of prescriptions in the marketplace. They act as liaisons between drug manufacturers and pharmacies, working to secure deals and rebates that are intended to help lower out-of-pocket costs for patients. However, because their practices are largely unknown, PBMs are often able to pocket these rebates for themselves, boosting their already high profit margins while forcing patients like me to pay more in out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter.

I truly hope Congress can come together in the spirit of bipartisanship to pass this much-needed and long-overdue legislation to rein in PBMs and help those of us who need our medications from the pharmacy counter.