FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2019
The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire Will Provide Education on the Harm that PBMs Pose to Consumers, Labor, Business, Health Care Stakeholders and State Purchasers; Organization to Advance Solutions to Ensure that Granite Staters Don’t Pay More than Is Absolutely Necessary for Medications.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – A unique and diverse coalition representing Granite State labor, business, patient groups, health care providers, and municipalities are joining together to form a new initiative – the PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire. This unprecedented effort, announced here today, will raise awareness of the role of PBMs’ in driving up prescription drug prices, as well as advance critical solutions for public and private sector leaders.
The debate over prescription drug spending is taking place nationally and locally in New Hampshire. While the pace of medical innovation has yielded new ways to treat – and even cure – many serious diseases, the pricing and actual costs of prescription medicines for patients and purchasers have remained largely a mystery. PBMs – large, billion-dollar companies – maintain high profits in an uncompetitive environment where complex pricing schemes enable PBMs to drive up prescription drug costs at the expense of individual patients, as well as business and employee group purchasers.
The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire will work to find real and effective solutions that will redirect prescription drug savings back to patients and purchasers, including proven changes like creating a modern, transparent marketplace where the power of dynamic competition among PBMs is harnessed to drive lower costs for Granite Staters.
Concord Mayor Jim Bouley said, “This is not a partisan issue. As Mayors, regardless of our philosophy, we are constantly making decisions that balance the ever-rising cost of healthcare benefits with providing necessary services such as police and fire protection. The escalating costs of prescription drugs, driven too often by PBMs, place municipalities in an unsustainable position and something needs to be done about it – now.”
“We are seeing first-hand how the increasing costs of healthcare are eroding the wages and benefits of working families in New Hampshire,” said New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Glenn Brackett. “If we don’t do something to address the real reason for the high costs of medications that working families face, they will be feeling more and more pain. We must hold PBMs accountable.”
“As Mayor, my biggest concern is balancing the constant needs of our community and our municipal employees with the existing revenue in our city,” said Franklin Mayor Tony Giunta. “Our employees have had to choose between health benefits and earned salary increases and that’s not right. We can do better, we should be able to do both and this project can provide the solution.”
The Project’s mission is to ensure that patients, business and employee group purchasers, State government agencies, local municipalities, school districts, and taxpayers pay no more than is absolutely necessary for acquiring the medications that Granite Staters need.
The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire’s website, www.pbmaccountabilitynh.org will serve as the hub of information about the organization’s efforts and provide resources for stakeholders, including infographics, example legislation in other states, and guides for understanding the drug pricing process.
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The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire
The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire comprises a broad coalition of leaders and stakeholders across New Hampshire, including, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America - New England Chapter, AIDS Response Seacoast, Breathe New Hampshire, American Federation of Teachers – New Hampshire, Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen Local 3, New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, New Hampshire Independent Pharmacists, Lupus Foundation New England, New Hampshire AFL-CIO, Iron Workers Local 7, and IBEW Local 2320. The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire receives support, insights, and guidance from the following national partners: National Consumers League, National Alliance for State Pharmacy Associations, National Community Pharmacists Association, HMC HealthWorks, United Food and Commercial Workers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, and America’s Agenda. Our mission is to restore prescription drug savings for New Hampshire patients and purchasers and assure affordability for patients, working families, business and employee groups, taxpayers, our State government, and communities across New Hampshire.