Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Ways and Means passed Chairman Jodey Arrington’s (TX-19) Real-Time Benefit Tools Implementation Act (H.R. 7512), bipartisan legislation to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide Medicare beneficiaries and their health care providers with price transparency tools.

Click HERE to watch Chairman Arrington’s remarks.

Chairman Arrington’s remarks as prepared for delivery: 

“According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 3 in 10 Americans skip filling their prescription or taking their medication as prescribed due to prohibitive costs.

“One in 4 seniors on Medicare report difficulty affording their prescription drugs.

“In another study, 75% of patients reported receiving a prescription that cost more than they expected.

“I believe one of the contributing causes of high healthcare costs is the fact that our healthcare system in no way, shape, or form resembles a free market.

“And the reason our healthcare system doesn’t function like a real market is because one of the operative conditions of free markets – namely the ability for consumers to make educated and informed decisions, have bargaining power, and shop around for different products – doesn’t actually exist.

“When consumers engage in a normal market, there is transparency in pricing that allows them to have bargaining power, assess value, and shop around for the product that best meets their needs.

“Nearly five years ago – in the summer of 2019 – I sat in this Committee room as we marked up my bipartisan Shop RX Act, legislation to empower seniors by ensuring sponsors of prescription drug plans offer real-time benefit information on their prescription drugs.

“Real-time benefit tools allow doctors to check in real time what medicines are covered under their patients’ insurance plans and then advise accordingly.

“We’ve already seen how this works in the private sector – after CVS implemented a real-time technology program, they saw physicians switch to a lower cost alternative 40% of the time when available, resulting in an average of $130 in savings per prescription for our seniors!

“Unfortunately – and completely unacceptably – even though my Shop RX Act was signed into law at the end of 2020, CMS has delayed implementation, barring patients and providers from utilizing this innovative and cost-effective tool.

“Today’s Real-Time Benefit Tool Implementation Act tells CMS in no uncertain terms that Congress, taxpayers, patients, and providers expect swift rulemaking and implementation to empower our seniors to get the medication they need at a price they can afford. “

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