Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2025
Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2025 directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to examine the role of intermediaries in the pharmaceutical supply chain—chiefly pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and related entities such as pharmacy services administrative organizations (PSAOs). The bill requires the FTC to assess pricing practices, ownership relationships, data use, formulary design, and competitive dynamics, and to provide Congress with policy recommendations to improve transparency, enhance competition, and ensure that cost savings from mergers or consolidations flow to consumers. An interim progress report is due within 180 days, and a comprehensive report is due within one year. In addition, the bill requires a separate FTC report focusing on anticompetitive concerns around sole-source drug manufacturers. This report would document complaints to the FTC, the agency’s enforcement capabilities against such manufacturers, and recommendations to strengthen enforcement. The act builds on historical discussion of prescription drug markets and roundtables, aiming to clarify regulatory obstacles and propose actions to reduce prescription drug costs and improve consumer outcomes.
Key Points
- 1Comprehensive FTC study of pharmaceutical supply-chain intermediaries, with a focus on PBMs and PSAOs, including:
- 2- Pricing practices (e.g., differences between payer reimbursements and what PBMs pay pharmacies, including owned vs. non-owned pharmacies).
- 3- Practices that might steer patients to owned pharmacies, use proprietary data for revenue or market share, or influence formulary design to favor higher-cost drugs.
- 4- Trends in competition and the integration of intermediaries with other market players.
- 5- Assessment of contracting, transparency, and potential information readily available to consumers and payers.
- 6- Identification of legal/regulatory obstacles to enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws in this space and cost-driving obstacles to prescription prices.
- 7Interim progress report due within 180 days, detailing early findings and planned actions.
- 8Final FTC report within 1 year, including:
- 9- Observations from the 2017 roundtable on competition in prescription drug markets and related actions or future research.
- 10- Specific actions the FTC intends to take, including further research, roundtables, consumer education, or enforcement actions.
- 11- Policy/legislative recommendations to improve transparency and competition, deter anticompetitive behavior, and ensure consumer benefits from mergers/consolidations.
- 12Separate Section 4 report on sole-source drug manufacturers:
- 13- Counts and nature of complaints about alleged anticompetitive conduct by sole-source drug manufacturers.
- 14- FTC’s ability to bring enforcement actions against such manufacturers.
- 15- Recommendations to strengthen enforcement of anticompetitive behavior in this area.