ALBANY – Governor Cuomo has vetoed a measure that would have provided for accountability of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies that own drug stores and also set pricing on prescription medications.
“With his veto tonight, Governor Cuomo inexplicably sided with drug company middle-men, pharmacy benefit managers, instead of consumers and independent pharmacists,” Senator James Skoufis (D, Woodbury) said. “PBMs are engaged in highway robbery and s.6531, endorsed by the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee’s investigative report, would’ve begun to rein them in. After a six-month long investigation, my team was able to provide data and evidence proving the necessity and urgency of this bill’s enactment”
Skoufis said over his tenure in Albany, “I’ve heard plea after plea from mom-and-pop pharmacy owners who are being strangled by a calculated and greedy industry; I’ve met with constituents whose medication prices have become untenable.”
He said it is “beyond disappointing that the governor couldn’t follow through with the legislature’s efforts to stand up against Big Pharma.”
Skoufis said he will continue to fight “so that New Yorker’s aren’t choosing between keeping the lights on or paying for medication.”
