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EXCLUSIVE: A conservative tax group is leading the fire with a handful of Senate Republicans with a multimillion-dollar campaign focused on their support for reforming a key component of the drug pricing system ahead of an expected vote on the health care package this month.
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste sets its sights on Senator Josh Hawley, R-Mo., along with Republican Senators Katie Britt of Alabama, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Fox News Digital has learned, by speaking out against Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
“The Bernie Sanders-led effort to expand government control over our healthcare system should be anathema to every American and fiscal conservative in Congress,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “CCAGW has fought for decades to prevent a government takeover of the health care system and is launching this latest multifaceted effort to prevent legislation from being passed that would move the country closer to socialized medicine.”
The tax watchdog’s campaign will consist of a combination of grassroots activism, online messaging and other forms of media outreach.
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WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 16: Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) asks questions as OpenAI CEO Samuel Altman testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law on May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
PPE has come under bipartisan scrutiny recently as lawmakers face more pressure to help curb the rising price of prescription drugs and other drugs. PPEs such as CVS Care Mark acting as an intermediary between pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance companies to negotiate drug costs for millions of Americans.
There is little public understanding of their practices or standards. It has pushed Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, a public health advocate and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, to impose more regulatory barriers to the work of PRMs.
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CVS Caremark, which is owned by the same company as CVS Pharmacy, is one of the largest pharmacy operators in the country (Google Maps)
But some conservative groups like CCAGW believe limiting the work of PBMs would place an unnecessary burden on millions of patients who rely on their services, as well as on U.S. taxpayers who would foot the bill for the federal government’s involvement. CCAGW is the lobbying arm of the nonprofit Citizens Against Government Waste, which has received funding in recent years from groups such as the Bradley Foundation, ExxonMobil and Johnson & Johnson, according to charity transparency reports.
A 30-second ad shared with Fox News Digital shows the group urging voters to stop their GOP senators from supporting PPE reform by linking them directly to Sanders.
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“Bernie Sanders is at it again, this time with a radical plan to increase government scrutiny of your pharmacy benefits. Worse, some Republicans support it,” says a voiceover.
The group pins the PPE reform push squarely on Senator Bernie Sanders (The Civic Council against Government Waste)
“Sanders’ socialist plan isn’t just an attack on your health benefits. It’s his next move toward government-run health care, shattering your pharmacy benefits, driving up drug costs and threatening private health insurance. Call ( Alabama Republican Senator) Katie Britt, tell her to stand up to Bernie’s radical takeover of health care.”
Sanders’ bill would impose price transparency measures on PPE and ban tactics he says unfairly inflate drug prices. PBM supporters argue that this would hinder them in negotiating the types of discounts these middlemen can currently get.
The legislation is part of a broader health package that the Senate is expected to consider this month.
It pressures GOP lawmakers who support PPE reform by tying them to Sanders (The Civic Council against Government Waste)
PPE reform as a whole has bipartisan support. Hawley spoke out against PPE earlier this year when he introduced legislation to lower drug prices.
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“Our prescription drug market has been manipulated in favor of Big Pharma and Big Insurance, and patients are paying the price. Americans are footing the bill for the most expensive prescription drug prices in the world – while middlemen negotiate in backrooms to get financial kickbacks that driving prices up further and preventing cheaper alternatives,” he said in April.
Meanwhile, in a May 2021 Washington Times op-ed, Tuberville wrote, “PPEs claim to help patients by negotiating lower prices from drug manufacturers. But the fact is, PPEs rarely, if ever, pass those savings on to patients.”
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.
