Washington, D.C., November 12, 2025 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and more than 100 stakeholder groups representing employers, workers, patients, providers, consumers, industry stakeholders, and more, today called on Congress to act with urgency to enact strong pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms this year.
“Last December, House and Senate leaders put forth a bipartisan health care package that would have taken important steps towards PBM transparency and accountability. Unfortunately, Congress failed to pull them over the one-yard line and closed 2024 with nothing done to improve affordability —again,” said Melissa Bartlett, ERIC’s Senior Vice President of Health Policy. “Without action to enact these reforms, we risk repeating history and ending another year with employers and working families still struggling with the high cost of prescription drugs. Congress needs to finish what it started and advance these measures.”
The December 2024 package contained strong PBM transparency and accountability reforms in the employer-sponsored insurance market and in federal and state programs, including:
- Full transparency of PBM practices, including business arrangements, financial incentives, and formulary design.
- Banning spread pricing, which allows PBMs to profit from the difference between what they charge insurers and reimburse pharmacies, in the Medicaid program.
- Requiring PBMs to pass 100% of rebates, discounts, fees, and other payments from drug manufacturers to plan sponsors and patients.
- De-linking PBM compensation from the list prices of drugs in the Medicare program.
Bartlett added, “Every day without action is a day that Americans are forced to choose between their health and their financial stability. These policies have strong support on both sides of the aisle, and are the culmination of 7 years of legislative debate and fine-tuning. But the window for action is closing fast. Congress should pass the bipartisan, bicameral health care package from last December without delay.”
Read the full letter here.