Latest Updates

Republicans on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform recently held a 2.5 hour “Forum” on the role of PBMs in pharmaceutical markets in which they clearly signaled that they find political and policy advantages in pressing the issue should they take the majority in the November 2022 elections. All the Republican Representatives and 6 of the 7 witnesses were critical of the role and activities of PBMs.

On October 15th, Representatives Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) introduced the LTC Pharmacy Definition Act of 2021 in the House of Representatives. This legislation complements the bipartisan Senate version, which was introduced earlier this year.

Throughout the 2021 legislative sessions, AmerisourceBergen State Government Affairs worked with the American Disease Prevention Coalition (ADPC) to advocate for legislation to remove barriers to pharmacist vaccine administration. In early 2020, Good Neighbor Pharmacy and AmerisourceBergen joined the ADPC—establishing AmerisourceBergen as the first pharmaceutical wholesaler member.

The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making $25.5 billion in funding available for health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) resources for providers who serve rural Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or Medicare patients, and an additional $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 for a broad range of providers who can document revenue loss and expenses associated with the pandemic.

AmerisourceBergen experts explain how they were able to get independent pharmacies a seat at the table and successfully roll out a COVID-19 vaccination program as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership Program in a Drug Topics article published September 16, 2021.