FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a coalition of 39 Attorneys General in urging Congress to reform the current practices conducted by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

The bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General have sent a letter to both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House seeking legislative action to address potential abuses within the PBM industry and bring transparency to the profession.

A PBM is a third-party company that functions as an intermediary between insurance providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, ostensibly to reduce the cost of prescription medication for its clients. It typically negotiates discounts and rebates with drug manufacturers, contracts with pharmacies, and develops and maintain drug lists of covered drugs.

Because a PBM ultimately decides which drugs it covers, it can bargain for rebates from drug manufacturers who want to get their products on its lists of covered drugs. As a result of this leverage, PBMs essentially force drug manufacturers to raise list prices in order to provide ever-growing rebates.

“Consumers in South Dakota are being forced to pay higher drug prices because of certain unscrupulous PMBs, and smaller pharmacies across South Dakota are being hurt by these PMBs’ actions,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Congress needs to take decisive action to protect the public.”

Attorneys General also joining the coalition are from: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virgina, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The coalition’s letter can be found here: