Lankford Highlights PBM Transparency, Biden Administration’s Mifepristone Deception in Finance Committee Hearing

Click HERE to Watch the Hearing on YouTube.

Click HERE to Download the Hearing on Box.

WASHINGTON, DC — US Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today highlighted the need for greater transparency from Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and raised concerns about the Biden administration’s manipulation of safety data surrounding mifepristone during a hearing with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The hearing comes the same week Lankford ledhis colleagues in a formal comment letter supporting the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) proposal to rescind the Biden administration’s unlawful abortion mandate at VA facilities. 

Yesterday, Senators Lankford and Hyde-Smith (R-MS) led a group of colleagues in submitting a formal comment letter to Secretary Collins supporting the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) proposed rule to rescind the Biden administration’s unlawful abortion mandate at VA facilities. They were joined by SenatorsJimRisch (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).

You can read the full letter HERE, and more HERE.

Excerpts:

On PBMs:

Lankford: “…During the confirmation process, it was interesting when you and I met in my office, you said every single senator brought up PBMs to you, and you made th[at] statement during the confirmation process: This is an area that President Trump wants to take on, is the Pharmacy Benefit Managers. This is unfinished business in this committee, but I wanted to just know what is HHS doing at this point on the PBM issue in particular, to make sure we’re not driving out rural pharmacies, and what we could do to be able to make sure that’s fair?”

Kennedy: “…We’ve met with the PBMs, and we are in talks with them. We’re also in MFN talks with the pharmaceutical companies, who are also very interested in reducing the cut and getting transparency among the PBMs. And the PBMs have committed to us, to transparency, to some protocol that will guarantee transparency, and the part of the MFN negotiations would include direct-to-consumer marketing, which would eliminate the middleman. So, I think we’re doing a lot on PBMs.”

On Mifepristone:

Lankford: “There were a lot of changes on the allocation of Mifepristone for elective abortions under the Biden administration. It’s now open to anyone without a prescription on it. You don’t have to go through a doctor on it. There’s all kinds of issues that are happening now on it. So, the question was, you said that there would be a review on that just to be able to look at it, and make sure we’re following all safety protocols. Do you know what timing on that review?”

Kennedy: “…We’re getting data in all the time, new data that we’re reviewing, and we know that during the Biden administration, they actually twisted the data to bury one of the safety signals, with a very high safety signal around 11%. So, we’re going to make sure that that doesn’t happen anymore. We’re producing on science and gold standard science on that. I’ll keep you abreast of where we are.”

Background

Lankford remains the leading pro-life voice in the Senate, standing firm in defense of life following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to return decisions about abortions to the people’s elected representatives. Every year, Lankford takes to the Senate floor to share his full and unwavering support for life in our nation and to ask his fellow Senators a simple question: when does life begin? 

In 2024, Lankford led his colleagues in filing an amicus brief in a case before the US Supreme Court challenging the FDA’s deregulation of chemical abortion drugs, including allowing mail-order distribution without doctor oversight.

Lankford has long been an advocate for PBM reforms that would increase transparency, ensure pharmacists are treated fairly, and ensure patients are able to benefit from low-cost prescription drugs. Lankford introduced the Protect Patient Access to Pharmacies Act in 2023 to hold PBMs accountable for artificially high prescription drug prices and their practices that harm locally-owned pharmacies. He also introduced two vitally important bills to tackle the biggest drivers of the high cost of prescription drugs, particularly for senior adults on Medicare: the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act and the Prescription Drug Supply Chain Pricing Transparency Act.  

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