McMorris Rodgers Joins in Introducing Legislation to Bring Transparency to Drug Costs and Provide Patient Choice

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 7, 2018) – Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) joined Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Peter Welch (D-VT), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) in introducing the Know the Cost Act of 2018 to ban gag clauses and empower patients in Eastern Washington to make informed decisions about their health care.

“All across the country, the cost of prescription drugs continues to skyrocket,” said McMorris Rodgers. “One way we can work to increase patient choice is by making sure they have the information to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. This legislation will ban “gag clauses,” contractual provisions that bar pharmacists from informing patients when the cash price for their prescription costs less than their insurance cost-sharing arrangement. If our pharmacists, health insurance issuers, and PBMs have access to the cost of our prescriptions, so should our patients.”

NOTE: Rep. McMorris Rodgers has also led in other areas to help bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Rep. McMorris Rodgers is also an original cosponsor of H.R. 1316, the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, a bill to require greater transparency from Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). 

PBMs are the middlemen that employers and federal programs use to set prescription drug prices for consumers on their health plans. PBMs often fail to explain the process for setting these prices, and while they claim to deliver cost savings by passing along rebates to federal programs, the lack of transparency surrounding PBMs makes it impossible to track these alleged savings. H.R. 1316 would protect taxpayers and health care consumers by requiring greater transparency from PBMs.

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