Medicare: Study on Pharmacy Middlemen and Drug Costs
Also known as: PBM Reporting Transparency Act
Legislative Progress
✓ Filed
Review
Senate
House
President
Key Points
This bill, introduced by Mr. Warner and a group of bipartisan senators, requires a deep dive into how "pharmacy benefit managers" work with Medicare. These companies act as middlemen who negotiate drug prices between insurance plans and pharmacies.
The goal is to find out how secret deals between these middlemen and insurance companies affect what seniors pay out of their own pockets for medicine. It also looks at whether these deals are making it harder for local pharmacies to stay in business by changing how much they get paid.
An independent advisory group will create two major reports for Congress. These reports will look for trends in drug pricing and provide specific recommendations on how to fix problems that make healthcare more expensive for regular people.
The first report will be finished about two years after the government provides the necessary data, with a follow-up report two years later. This helps Congress see if drug costs and middleman practices are getting better or worse over time.
Milestones
2 milestones2 actions
Jan 29, 2026Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Jan 29, 2026
Introduced in Senate
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
PBM Reporting Transparency Act
Bill NumberS 3729
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Analysis generated by AI. While we strive for accuracy, this should not be considered legal or professional advice. Always verify information with official government sources.