ATAP News

The AACU through the Alliance for Transparent & Affordable Prescriptions (ATAP) is leading the charge for change in PBM’s and the drug supply chain. They challenge the middlemen with making “coverage decisions based on what’s financially advantageous to them through the drug rebate system – even if those decisions put patients at risk by complicating access to medicines that prevent heart attack, stroke and death.”

On September 23, members of ATAP were on the Hill in support of Section 306 of the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which is a Senate HELP Committee bill focused in large part on surprise billing. Section 306 contains comprehensive PBM reform. "We kept our focus on the Senate with the main goal of expressing support for inclusion of 306," said ATAP President Dr. Robert Levin. "The feedback from staff was overwhelmingly supportive with regard to the substance of section 306, which is fantastic in light of the lobbying the PBMs are doing against it."

The Alliance for Transparent and Affordable Prescriptions (ATAP) consists of twenty-three patient and provider groups who are concerned about the role pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in our drug supply chain. As prescribers and patients, we have seen firsthand the negative effect that some of the business practices of PBMs are having on patients’ ability to access needed medications. As such, we strongly support Section 306 (“Health Plan Oversight of Pharmacy Benefit Manager Services”) of S. 1895 as reported out of the HELP Committee.

"Harry Gewanter, M.D., of the Alliance for Transparent & Affordable Prescriptions explained that the “extremely opaque, extremely complex” drug supply chain is part of the problem. Pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who manage prescription drug benefits for major health plans, exacerbate the issue. PBMs may make coverage decisions based on what’s financially advantageous to them through the drug rebate system – even if those decisions put patients at risk by complicating access to medicine that prevents heart attack, stroke and death."

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Members of the Alliance for Transparent and Affordable Prescriptions (ATAP) gathered in DC on Wednesday, June 26th, for the organizations first ever Hill Day and Congressional Briefing. Over 20 advocates representing patient and provider organizations from across the country spent the entire day educating Congress on drug pricing and access issues related to Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).

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