Washington, D.C., February 11, 2026 – Today, James Gelfand, President and CEO of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health at a hearing titled “Lowering Health Care Costs for All Americans: An Examination of the Prescription Drug Supply Chain.” The hearing focused on the root drivers of prescription drug costs and ways to keep them both accessible and affordable.
Employer-sponsored coverage is the largest source of private health coverage in the United States, with more than 150 million people receiving health insurance through their employer. Gelfand praised commonsense policy solutions recently advanced by Congress and the administration to reform anti-competitive practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) as a meaningful first step and stressed the need for further action to make sure employers are getting the best deal on medications for their workers.
“Winston Churchill once famously said, ‘Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.’ The same can be said for the U.S. healthcare system. It’s known for its innovation, research, and rapid response to multifaceted problems – and yet it has become a complex web of intertwined entities and actors that each have their hand in the cookie jar well before a drug ever makes it to the end user, the patient,” said Gelfand. “Tackling opaque business practices, misaligned financial incentives, and significant structural barriers is not a one-and-done endeavor, and we need to keep going. ERIC member companies are committed to working with Congress to identify misaligned incentives, market failures, and regulatory barriers that drive up costs, so we can advance solutions that promote competition and help large employers continue to offer access to affordable, high-quality health care.
Gelfand outlined several areas where limited competition, gamesmanship and abusive practices are contributing to increased prescription drug costs. He stressed that Congress should consider additional opportunities to increase transparency and accountability to address the roadblocks to affordability. Those areas include:
- Ending Abuse in the Patent System
- Accelerating Availability of More Affordable Biosimilars
- Examining the Practices of the “other middlemen” including:
- Wholesalers
- Manufacturers engaged in white labeling
- Third Party Administrators, Brokers and Benefits Consultants
Gelfand urged the lawmakers to immediately mark up three bills introduced by Energy and Commerce members intended to spur faster adoption of and access to biosimilars, enhance transparency across stakeholders, and foster fairness in provider contracting. Those include:
- Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (H.R. 5526): Led by committee members Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX) and Greg Landsman (D-OH), the bill removes certain requirements for biosimilars to be designated as interchangeable. Specifically, it establishes a presumption that an approved biosimilar is interchangeable with the reference product without the need for additional evidence from the manufacturer and removes the applicable exclusivity periods for a first interchangeable biosimilar.
- Patients Deserve Price Tags Act (H.R. 5582): Led by committee member Congressman John James (R-MI) and Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), the bill provides for improved price transparency, helping patients understand the actual cost of care, and extends reporting requirements across a range of health care providers, plans, and PBMs.
- Healthy Competition for Better Care Act (H.R. 6248): Led by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) with committee member Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA) as an original cosponsor, this legislation would improve fairness in contracting by allowing for enrollee incentives to choose high-quality and low-cost providers and insurers, and employers to contract with hospitals and providers without requirements to enter into additional contracts with other affiliated providers or hospitals.
In addition to the legislation within the Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction, Gelfand underscored the need to apply the same fiduciary responsibilities to PBMs that plan sponsors follow by advancing the:
- PBM Fiduciary Accountability Integrity, and Reform (FAIR) Act (H.R. 6837): Led by committee member Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), the bill clarifies that fiduciary standards for employer health benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) apply in full to PBMs performing services on behalf of the plan. ERIC has long advocated that Congress enact strong PBM transparency and accountability reforms to provide relief for employers and workers nationwide.
Gelfand’s full testimony submitted by ERIC can be viewed here.