Blister pack with dollars instead of pills The bill would prohibit arbitrary clawbacks of payments made to pharmacies and require PBMs to report how much money they make through spread pricing and pharmacy fees. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022 on May 24, which would make it illegal for PBMs to engage in “spread pricing.”

Spread pricing occurs when PBMs charge health plans and payers more for a prescription drug than what they reimburse to the pharmacy — and then keep the difference. For example, when a pharmacist fills a prescription, a PBM handles the process, informing the pharmacy it will be reimbursed $90. The PBM then charges the health insurance plan $100 for processing the same prescription. The spread of $10 is pocketed by the PBMs.

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