Last week, a group of 35 bipartisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced CommonGround 2025 — a framework to address the Affordable Care Act premium issue that became the epicenter of the most recent government shutdown.
Led by Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA), the proposal — which the group describes as a “two-year extension of health insurance premium savings for American families, including a year of the enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs), with targeted modifications” — contains critical pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform provisions that were nearly enacted as part of the December 2024 Continuing Resolution and are currently included in the widely-supported PBM Reform Act and the Bipartisan Health Care Act. Specifically, the reforms, which are listed as a potential framework pay-for, would:
- Ban spread pricing in Medicaid,
- Delink PBM compensation from the cost of medications, and
- Promote transparency for both employers and patients in their prescription drug plans.
The inclusion of these provisions reinforces congressional commitment to advancing meaningful PBM reforms. NACDS and our partners will keep working alongside our pharmacy champions in Congress — amid an extremely tense political environment — to make these essential reforms law.
RELATED CONTENT:
- NACDS Statement on the PBM Price Transparency and Accountability Act
- Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) Calls for PBM Reform During Committee Hearing on Lowering Healthcare Costs
- NACDS on NBC10 Philadelphia Discussing the Accelerating Wave of Pharmacy Closures Driven by PBM Middlemen Tactics
- NACDS Statement to Senate Finance on Rising Healthcare Costs
- NACDS Polling on Pharmacy Closures
- NACDS Letter to Congressional Leadership Urging Action on PBM Reform
- NACDS Ad Pushes Urgency on Federal PBM Reform
