The White House seems to be moving forward with efforts to codify President Trump’s MFN drug pricing deals. According to reports, in an effort to gain industry support of the federal legislative efforts to codify the deals, the administration has drafted legislative text and invited a small group of pharmaceutical manufacturers to discuss. This push for codification comes despite bipartisan hesitation in Congress, where several lawmakers have raised questions about the scope, mechanics, and long‑term implications of the MFN agreements. As recently discussed, some members of Congress have demanded answers and detailed information about the terms of the MFN agreements before they will consider legislative action codifying the deals. In the meantime, President Trump announced a new 100% tariff on patented pharmaceutical products and ingredients. Notably, companies that h…

These efforts reflect an ongoing policy interest in redefining the role of PBMs within the prescription drug supply chain and holding them to heightened, fiduciary standards in their business and contracting practices. Specifically, states have proposed fiduciary obligations in a range of contexts, typically seeking to establish PBMs as fiduciaries, or held to fiduciary standards, either to the health plans and plan sponsors with which they contract, to the covered persons enrolled in the plan, or to both. Despite this continued push for fiduciary obligations, the fiduciary obligations in many of the proposed state laws have not passed committee or the bills have been amended to remove the fiduciary language. Despite the continued federal focus and reform efforts related to prescription drug costs, state legislators have continued to advance targeted legislation aimed…