TPA Submits Comments to House Health Care Task Force

Last week, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) submitted information to the House Budget Committee’s Health Care Task Force regarding ways the U.S. can improve patient outcomes and reduce federal health care expenditures.

Legislators should examine the regulatory process for tobacco harm reduction products including e-cigarettes, as reducing the number of adults who smoke will dramatically reduce federal health care spending. While adults in other countries have a wide variety of harm reduction products available to aid in smoking cessation, American adults access remains stunted due to onerous federal regulations. The cumbersome existing model to bring safer alternatives to the market disparages the 30 million U.S. adults who smoke from accessing products and stands in stark contrast to the posture of other high-income countries.

Further, lawmakers should examine the outsized role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in federally funded health care plans, such as Medicare Part D plans and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. When PBMs are permitted to practice spread pricing, where PBMs bill a health insurance plan more to process a prescription then it reimburses the pharmacy and pockets the difference as revenue, is an inherent kickback structure that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

TPA applauds House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and Health Care Task Force Chair Michael Burgess (R-Texas) for their commitment to ensuring Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care, while ensuring taxpayer dollars are used effectively.

Read TPA’s full comments here or below.