GOP Ramps Up Drug-Price Push as Lankford Targets PBM Reforms

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is pushing to attach a healthcare proposal targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to a major must-pass spending bill.

He said the government funding process could provide the quickest path for action on drug prices ahead of the 2026 appropriations cycle.

In an interview with Politico on Thursday, Lankford said he wants to add legislation cracking down on PBMs, the middlemen who negotiate drug prices and rebates, to the annual measure that funds the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.

The Senate Finance Committee does not typically oversee the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, but Lankford argued that appropriations measures often become vehicles for broad policy agreements.

"It's also appropriations, and strange things ride there if all the different players all agree," Lankford told Politico, describing the effort as one that would require buy-in from both chambers and top party leaders, including the Senate majority leader, the House speaker, and Finance Committee leadership.

The move comes as House Republicans sharpen their messaging on drug costs, an issue that has gained urgency amid Democrat attacks over rising health insurance premiums.

President Donald Trump's top pollster, Tony Fabrizio, urged House Republicans in a private lunch Wednesday to emphasize lowering prescription drug prices.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said afterward that Republicans are prepared to move PBM legislation "that would lower drug costs."

Still, the strategy faces a major hurdle. Negotiators have not reached agreement on an overall funding level for the Labor-HHS-Education bill, the largest non-defense spending measure among the 12 annual appropriations bills.

Asked whether he would support adding PBM provisions to the funding process, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded cautiously: "Let's see if they can get an appropriations bill together."

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