Washington, DC — Days after a powerful US health insurance executive was shot dead in Manhattan with a suspect's manifesto indicating his frustration against the healthcare system in America, a group of lawmakers have decided to introduce a bill in Congress that if passed will force health insurers to sell their pharmacy businesses.
The proposed legislation is backed by Democrat Elizabeth Warren, Republican Josh Hawley, Republican Representative Diana Harshbarger, Democratic Representative Jake Auchincloss and others and comes on the heels of the December 4 killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance arm, one of the largest health insurers in the US.
Thompson's killing, the manhunt and subsequent arrest of suspect Luigi Mangione and his handwritten manifesto have triggered global headlines, generated endless discussions on social media and sent shockwaves through the American business sector.
Officials say Mangione's manifesto sought to justify the killing as a reaction to "corruption" in the healthcare industry.
On Wednesday, Warren warned her bill would stop the intermediaries who have been hiking up prices of medicines and "manipulating the market."
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), she said, "have manipulated the market to enrich themselves — hiking up drug costs, cheating employers, and driving small pharmacies out of business."
She said her new bipartisan bill with Hawley "will rein in these middlemen."
PBMs are third-party companies that manage the distribution of drugs for large employers and insurance companies, such as UnitedHealth, and use their size to negotiate with drug makers and pharmacies.
They function inside the healthcare system, for example, Kaiser Permanente, and have been at the centre of drug pricing conversations from the streets of America to Congress.
Hawley, who is backing the bill, said the health insurance companies in the US "have gotten huge and rich by buying up everything in sight and charging patients more and more for less care."
"It's time to start putting patients first. My bill with Senator Warren would prevent insurance companies from buying up pharmacies and doctors’ practices," he said.