Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
Health care industries are rolling out new advocacy campaigns as summer comes to a close, gearing up for the stretch run and hoping to cut through the campaign din.
Why it matters: Things are slow on the Hill at the moment, but preparations will soon ramp up for a year-end health package that could bring big changes to the business models of PBMs or hospitals.
Driving the news: Some advocacy efforts are already launching ahead of Congress' return.
- The employer and insurer group Better Solutions for Healthcare is launching a five-figure digital ad campaign calling on the Senate Finance Committee to act on the SITE Act on site-neutral payments.
- On the other side, the hospital group Coalition to Strengthen America's Health Care said it will launch another seven-figure ad buy in the coming weeks. It did not specify the exact topic, but it has pushed back on site-neutral efforts before.
- The American Hospital Association said health systems spent August engaging with lawmakers over the break about "why additional support is needed to protect patient access to care."
- On another front, 40 patient groups wrote to congressional leaders last week, pushing for extending the enhanced ACA subsidies that are due to expire at the end of next year.
What they're saying: "Everybody's been off in August, which is fantastic and great, but the brains have reset, and they're trying to figure out what that looks like for the end of this year," said Katie Berge, senior director of federal government affairs at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, one of the signers of the letter.
- "And regardless of where chips actually fall [in the election], they can't forget about it," she said of seeking to keep the subsidies on congressional staffs' radar.
- The groups are pushing for action by August 2025, given the need for insurers to plan their rates ahead of time. "The timeline is way shorter than everybody thinks it is," she said.
Between the lines: PBMs also have a target on their back, with a flurry of bills across both chambers and parties.
- PhRMA is pushing for action in the lame duck session. "It's hard to find an issue with as much bipartisan agreement, as many diverse voices calling for action and as widespread voter support as PBM reform," said Alex Schriver, senior vice president of public affairs at PhRMA.
- Greg Lopes, a spokesman for the PBM group PCMA, said pharma is "blaming everyone else, particularly pharmacy benefit companies, for high prescription drug prices" and said PBMs are pushing for policies to increase competition in the drug market.
