Pharmacy benefits are critical for Florida businesses 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – As someone deeply passionate about the success of Florida hospitality businesses and the well-being of their employees, I’ve witnessed firsthand the critical role that comprehensive health care benefits play in ensuring individual well-being and organizational success.

Given the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs nationwide, it’s abundantly clear that pharmacy benefit companies are a vital resource in helping employees and families more affordably access the medications they desperately need.

Pharmacy benefit companies consistently help provide plan sponsors and their employees with critical savings and flexibility to better access to essential prescriptions.

Sadly, recent federal proposals would undermine their ability to help employers secure savings for their employees by negotiating with large pharmaceutical companies.

It’s a bad idea that would serve to further complicate the already dizzying health care landscape that businesses in Florida and across the nation must navigate daily.

Employees are the heart and backbone of successful restaurant, hotel or other business, and great employers understand this better than anyone.

It’s no secret that the enterprises that put their people first, treat them with the respect they deserve, and provide good benefits that allow them to care for their families perform the best.

But to ensure employees can perform their best, they need more than just a paycheck—they need comprehensive benefits that help them thrive, including access to affordable medications.

This isn’t just a matter of doing what’s right, it’s a strategic imperative. In today’s competitive economy, attracting and retaining top talent is crucial, and increasingly difficult.

One of the most powerful tools in any business’ arsenal is the ability to offer great health care benefits that set distinguish it from competitors. Employees are more loyal and willing to stick around when they know their company has their back at the doctor’s office and pharmacy counter.

Obviously, providing comprehensive health care benefits at an affordable price, including access to fairly priced prescriptions, comes at a cost.

Negotiating discounts for employee prescription drug plans is exceedingly difficult for businesses to take on alone, especially with Big Pharma perpetually stuffing their bloated coffers by increasing the prices of prescription drugs.

Pharmacy benefit companies provide an important counterbalance to Big Pharma greed by leveraging their expertise, negotiating with drugmakers, and providing healthy competition in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Unfortunately, in today’s chaotic political discourse in Washington, pharmacy benefit companies are too often unfairly scapegoated in the ongoing drug pricing debate.

In reality, they serve as one of the only groups working to hold Big Pharma accountable by driving down costs and improving access to medications.

Data has found that these companies help save $1,040 per person annually and provide employers with $878 per person in yearly savings on prescription drugs.

Recently, Congress thankfully avoided including measures targeting pharmacy benefits in the most recent spending package, which was somewhat comforting news to the business community. However, it doesn’t seem that these proposals will be going away any time soon.

Big Pharma, as it has for decades now, continues to dramatically outspend every other industry in lobbying Congress.

Have we already forgotten Big Pharma’s leading role in the genesis of the opioid crisis, an epidemic that continues to claim countless American lives?

Instead of going down the same reckless path as before, we need our nation’s leaders in Washington to step up and address the root cause of the drug pricing crisis – namely, Big Pharma’s anti-competitive practices that allows them to set whatever prices they desire.

This is why proposals for strict government regulations on pharmacy benefit companies are still circulating. Drugmakers will stop at nothing to tighten their stranglehold on the price of prescriptions, their greatest profit driver.

Should these proposed measures become law, Florida businesses and their employees would see disastrous financial consequences.

Recent economic analyses show that prohibiting market-based incentives for pharmacy benefit companies to secure larger rebates when negotiating with Big Pharma – known as “delinking” – would lead to $26.6 billion in increased health care premiums for commercial plans each year.

This would be catastrophic for citizens across our state who get employer-sponsored insurance.

It’s time for policymakers to look at the facts, recognize the vital role pharmacy benefit companies play in the already shaky health care ecosystem, and safeguard the interests of businesses and their employees by opposing such legislation when it inevitably makes the rounds in the halls of Congress again.

By opposing the introduction of increased government regulation and supporting policies that foster competition and allow the free market to remain truly free, we can ensure that businesses across our state can continue to provide affordable benefits that allow their employees to thrive both personally and professionally.

Rick Van Warner is a consultant and 35-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has held several C-suite positions during his career.