NORFOLK, Va. — At the Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia office in Norfolk on Monday morning, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia 3rd District) hosted a roundtable centered on the top of prescription drugs.
Senior citizens, pharmacists, advocates and nonprofit leaders filled the conference room for an open dialogue about affordability, industry practices and legislative efforts.
Sen. Kaine touted strides under the Inflation Reduction Act.
"The cool thing about capping insulin at $35 a month in Medicare, is Medicare is such a big part of the market that it sends a really loud market signal," Kaine partly said.
"Some people were paying hundreds of dollars a month," said Rep. Scott.
Among other topics, both lawmakers stressed there are ongoing efforts to address pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs they dubbed as industry middlemen.
"They want to charge that transaction fee, and they want to charge it on the higher-price drug because they'll make more money that way," said Kaine.
A spokesperson for Kaine's office said "[he] introduced legislation that would protect patients from harmful insurance and PBM practices" earlier this year.
Cathy Wadley, a Chesapeake resident who attended the roundtable Monday, said she now has a better idea on possibly why she has to pay for name-brand for one of her medications versus generic under Medicare.
"It doesn't get covered at all," Wadley added. "I don't think a lot of us Americans know about the middle people."
"We're using what's called transparency. The PBMs have to open the box, people can see what's going on and see what prices they're paying," said Scott.
Pharmacist Dr. Anna Peoples with Peoples Pharmacy in Norfolk described feeling a pinch. She pleaded with both lawmakers to get a handle on PBMs.
"If they're going to continue to do what they're doing, just like we have food deserts, we're going to have pharmacy deserts," Dr. Peoples worried.
During the roundtable, issues like navigating Medicare Part D were also discussed.
"[Older adults] still have to look back on their prescription drug plan every single year to try and figure out, 'Is this the best plan for me?,'" said Bonnie Dozier with Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia.
Another participant mentioned how many patients are grappling with increasing costs of prescription drugs, alongside rising prices for other necessities such as housing and food.