Let’s Lower Drug Prices

For All Floridians

Support SB 1550 and HB 1509

A Broken Health Care System

Prescription drug middlemen called Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are best described as “pharmaceutical benefit manipulators.” They are driving up costs for Floridians by inflating drug prices. They’re also undercutting patients’ choice of pharmacies and access to medicines a physician prescribes. In Florida, PBMs and the payers they work for rake in billions of dollars through complexities they’ve built into the system, and then they pocket this cash instead of passing along all the drug savings that were intended for families.

Patients can’t afford to keep getting ripped off. It’s time to fix this broken system. 

Thankfully, the Florida legislature is taking bold action to enact policies that will confront this manipulation, hold PBMs accountable, increase transparency, and promote free market competition – all while lowering the cost of drugs for all Floridians. SB 1550/HB 1509 will ensure that Pharmacy Benefit Managers have proper oversight and accountability.

We’re headed in the right direction, and must lend our support to legislation that will provide patients with real relief from soaring drug costs.

How to Fix It

LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS.

The three largest PBMs control more than 80% of the prescription drug market, giving them enormous influence to acquire prescription drugs cheaper and then charge patients inflated prices – all while squeezing pharmacies. SB 1550/HB 1509 will lower the price patients pay for the medications they need.

STRENGTHEN PATIENT CHOICE.

Health care decisions should be made between a patient and their medical provider – not a paper-pushing PBM. Unfortunately, PBMs are manipulating the system by forcing patients to switch to drugs that their provider didn’t prescribe or requiring them to fill their prescriptions at a pharmacy they didn’t choose. We can’t allow Floridians to be bullied by these non-medical middlemen.

INCREASE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

The prescription drug market is complicated, and PBMs benefit from the complexity they helped create by using a corporate shell game to disguise profits and charge patients more. Earlier this year, Florida’s Attorney General cited these issues in a legal filing to shine a spotlight on the current system that often allows PBMs to engage in “unfair practices, self-dealing, and conflicts of interest.” SB 1550/HB 1509 will bring PBMs into the sunshine and ensure there is proper oversight and accountability.

“We are going to accomplish the most comprehensive transparency legislation in Florida history with respect to prescription drugs.”

- Gov. Ron DeSantis

Bold Reforms

Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking bold action to lower drug prices for Floridians by holding PBMs accountable. He started with an Executive Order in 2022 and solidified that promise by proposing legislation, ultimately SB 550/HB 1509, that will tackle some of the most challenging issues that are driving up prescription costs for Floridians.

Under the Governor’s leadership, state officials are also conducting an audit of predatory PBM practices to determine what steps to take to rein in these issues and put Florida patients first. 

The filing of SB 550/HB 1509 marks an unprecedented step in the fight to hold PBMs accountable. Once passed, this landmark legislation will change the lives of Florida patients by giving them access to the care they deserve.

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