The Pharmacists Fight Back Act moved one step closer to becoming law Wednesday when the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted 40–2 to advance H.R. 6610.
In a Congress where very little comes easily, 40 committee members from both sides of the aisle agreed that the status quo created by pharmacy benefit managers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program is unacceptable.
APCI thanks the bill’s sponsors, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., and their teams for including APCI in the development of this legislation from the beginning. We also thank the members of the Oversight Committee and every APCI member who made a call, sent a message or helped explain why this legislation is needed.
The bill has drawn support from more than 60 state and national pharmacy organizations. APCI has championed the legislation since its first version was drafted in 2023.
The bipartisan margin is significant. In a Congress where very little comes easily, 40 committee members from both sides of the aisle agreed that the status quo created by pharmacy benefit managers in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program is unacceptable.
H.R. 6610 would impose new requirements on PBMs operating within the federal employee health program. The legislation includes provisions intended to improve pharmacy reimbursement, restrict patient steering to PBM-owned pharmacies, lower costs at the pharmacy counter and give federal regulators stronger tools to enforce the law.
The committee vote also followed a coordinated advocacy effort by APCI, its membership, and other independent pharmacy stakeholders. We are grateful for the APCI members and the many other supporters who contacted representatives serving on the Oversight Committee to urge their support for the bill.
Those contacts were not window dressing. The 40–2 vote suggests those messages are getting through.
However, the Pharmacists Fight Back Act still has a long road ahead before becoming law.
With Wednesday’s vote, the bill can now move to the full House of Representatives, but House leadership must decide when and how to bring it to the floor. If it passes the House, the Senate must also act before the legislation can reach the president.
There is no guarantee that process will move quickly, and we expect aggressive opposition from PBMs and the companies that own them.
Still, Wednesday’s vote is a major victory.
APCI will continue working with lawmakers to build support for H.R. 6610 and will let members know when it is time to act again. Learn more about APCI’s public policy work.
The next goal is passage by the full House.