Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has launched a scathing attack on President Biden’s prescription drug price plan, arguing that the administration’s approach will only benefit the government and Big Pharma while raising costs for families. Pompeo specifically targets the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed regulations on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), arguing they will harm patients by increasing drug prices and weakening the free market.
Pompeo asserts that America’s free-market healthcare system, with its emphasis on negotiation and competition, has allowed for the production of high-quality healthcare services and products for American citizens. He criticizes the Biden administration’s interventionist policies, arguing they are misguided and threaten to make drug prices unaffordable for families and senior citizens.
Pompeo emphasizes the crucial role of PBMs in keeping drug prices down. He argues that these companies, by negotiating with drug manufacturers, secure lower drug prices for insurance companies, ultimately benefiting patients and families. He points out that employers, health plans, unions, and even government plans like Medicare and Medicaid rely on PBMs to negotiate lower drug prices.
Pompeo warns that without PBMs, prescription drug costs for families would skyrocket. He expresses his opposition to new and unnecessary government regulations in the healthcare sector, including the Affordable Care Act and efforts to hamstring PBMs.
He accuses the FTC, under Commissioner Lina Khan, of pushing the Biden administration’s radical agenda, expanding government authority, and making life more costly for Americans. He criticizes media coverage of PBMs, calling it anecdotal and unmoored from reality.
Pompeo highlights data from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, which shows that list prices for drugs, which are not set by PBMs, increased nearly 5% in 2023. He argues that the rising drug prices are a symptom of the Biden administration’s economic policies, and that the FTC’s attack on PBMs will exacerbate the problem.
Instead of attacking PBMs, Pompeo suggests that Congress focus on the patent system. He argues that the current system allows drug manufacturers to exploit patents, keeping prices high and stifling competition. He points to a bill, the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act, already introduced in the Senate, which aims to address this issue. He believes this is a more effective approach to lowering drug prices than government intervention in the market.
Pompeo concludes by calling for Congress to support free-market actors like PBMs and oppose the Biden administration’s socialist meddling. He warns that the Biden administration’s attacks on free enterprise, including its targeting of grocers, beverage companies, and even AI chipmakers, will ultimately harm Americans. He argues that Congress should stand up for the free market and reject the administration’s misguided policies.
