BROWN JOINS PHARMACIST IN COLUMBUS AS TRUMP SIGNS BIPARTISAN BILLS TO HELP CUSTOMERS SAVE MONEY AT THE PHARMACY COUNTER INTO LAW

COLUMBUS, OH – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined a Columbus pharmacist at Equitas Pharmacy after President Trump signed Brown’s bipartisan bills to help Ohioans save money on their medication at the pharmacy counter into law. 

“Corporations try to squeeze every last penny out of patients, even going so far as to ban pharmacists from giving their customers information on how to save money,” said Brown. “These bills are important, bipartisan steps we can take right now to crack down on big pharma hiding information from customers.”

Brown’s bill, the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act, cracks down on the outrageous gag clauses that prohibit pharmacists from telling customers how to save money by paying out of pocket for medicines rather than going through insurance.

The bill is a follow up to Brown’s Know the Lowest Price Act, which passed the Senate last month. That bill would prohibit Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Plans from restricting a pharmacy’s ability to provide drug price information when there is a difference between the cost of the drug under the plan and the cost of the drug when purchased without insurance.

Brown visited Equitas Pharmacy in Columbus and stood with pharmacist Aaron Clark to discuss why this legislation is important for pharmacists and patients. 

“Thanks to Senator Brown’s leadership, Equitas Health pharmacists can now help our patients get their medications more cost effectively. Before the Know the Lowest Price Act and the Patients’ Right to Know Drug Prices Act were signed into law, many of our contracts with pharmacy benefit managers prohibited us from disclosing the lowest drug price options to our patients. Senator Brown is a champion for Ohioans and helped do away with gag clauses that hurt our patients. Now, when the cash price for a prescription is less than what a patient would pay using their insurance plan, we won’t have to keep it a secret,” said Aaron Clark, PharmD, RPh, AAHIVP, Chief Pharmacy Officer.

Many customers have no idea that they could pay less for their prescription if they paid out of pocket rather than using their insurance at the pharmacy counter. That’s because many pharmacists are prohibited from telling their customers that a prescription to treat diabetes or high blood pressure may cost only $8 out of pocket instead of $20 through insurance coverage. One 2018 report found that customers overpaid for prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter 23% of the time. And many pharmacists are frustrated that they can’t help their customers save money.

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