Romeoville IL – As Chairperson of the Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee, state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, is working to lower prescription drug prices and limit predatory practices by pushing new regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

“Allowing middlemen to drive-up the cost of prescription drugs can lead to patients in Illinois not being able to access life-saving medications. We must put citizen health above all else, which is why I am working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to regulate pharmacy benefit managers,” said Manley. “A majority of Americans take prescription medication. Arbitrary barriers to access create an unfair financial burden for too many.”

Manley has led several hearings this year pertaining to PBMs in the Health Care Availability Accessibility Committee. She is investigating practices that harm patients and gathering information to craft prescription drug affordability strategies. The bill is an initiative of the Illinois Department of Insurance.

PBMs are private corporations that negotiate the availability and price that insurance companies and pharmacies pay drug manufacturers for their products. Due to decades of industry consolidation, three PBMs control nearly 80% of the market, leaving them with huge leverage over drug prices. HB4548 seeks a number of changes to the way that PBMs operate, including prohibiting PBMs from manipulating individuals to use certain pharmacies, ending the practice of unreasonably designating certain prescription drugs as “specialty drugs,” and requiring PBMs to remit 100% of rebates and fees to the benefit plans sponsor, consumer, or employer. 

“I would like to thank the Department of Insurance and my colleagues in the General Assembly for working with me to find a solution to this problem and to make prescription drugs, and healthcare as a whole, more affordable for all Illinoisians.”