OPINION
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is an A-plus conservative.
He singlehandedly uncovered most of the Hunter Biden corruption story. As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, he's also held countless hearings that have shined a spotlight on too many examples of Biden-Harris administration overreach to count.
But right now, he's unintentionally making one significant mistake, and it's helping Big Pharma and its Biden-Harris administration enablers big time.
As we all know, Big Pharma loves to raise prices. It continues to inflate the cost of its products far above the nation's general inflation rate.
But to raise prices even further than they have already, the drugmakers need to stop small businesses from being able to negotiate drug costs down. That's where James Comer is helping.
Most small businesses don't have enough influence to negotiate directly with the big bad drug companies on their own. So they pay companies, called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which specialize in going head-to-head against Big Pharma, to do the hardball work for them.
Almost every business in America uses PBMs because the cost savings they secure are astronomical. Casey Mulligan, who was former President Donald Trump's top economist, found that PBMs save us $145 billion annually.
According to other estimates, they provide $1,000 in cost savings per person annually. With half the country saying it is difficult to afford healthcare today, that's kind of a big deal.
But Rep. Comer is sharply criticizing these top-notch anti-Big Pharma groups and seems to want to regulate them out of existence.
Why would such a principled conservative call for the same Big Pharma-friendly regulations that the Biden-Harris administration desires?
Well, the Biden-Harris Federal Trade Commission recently came out with a scathing report against PBMs, and Rep. Comer's staff members appear to have mistakenly taken the claims made within it as fact rather than fiction.
What Comer's staff doesn't appear to know is that the Biden-Harris FTC didn't cite a single piece of evidence in its recent anti-PBM report to corroborate its pro-pharma position. This Biden-Harris administration "report" was no different than the Trump-Russia dossier, which was backed by nothing other than the political motivations of its authors.
As Trump 2024 campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski recently put it, "The Biden administration is going to war against PBMs and to bat for Big Pharma just because it wants to, facts be damned."
Melissa Holyoak, one of the FTC's Republican commissioners, even voted against releasing the new report because she found there to be "process irregularities" and "concerns over the substance — or lack thereof — of the original order."
Yet Comer is saying that the government needs to act against PBMs because the Biden-Harris FTC has declared it needs to be done. And because he chairs the powerful House Oversight Committee, there's a good chance that any new regulations he may want will get implemented.
Basing regulatory decisions on the whims and opinions of the Biden-Harris administration is not just wrong, it's dangerous.
I understand why Comer's staff has gotten fooled. After all, the FTC is supposed to be an independent and objective consumer protection agency — one whose opinion members of both parties can trust.
But that was before the Biden-Harris administration took over the agency.
This radical White House has completely gutted the FTC, going so far as to kill a policy that mandated it to create new regulations only if they are needed to protect consumers. It's morphed into an agency that helps political donors instead of consumers, and Big Pharma is its top beneficiary.
As Lewandowski wrote, "What is it about Big Pharma that enamors the Biden administration?
"Is it that the major drug companies donate heavily to leftist causes? ... Is it that they support leftist interest groups, like unions, pro-amnesty groups, and abortion advocacy organizations?
"Whatever the reason for this unholy alliance is, it's costing the American people dearly."
Spot on, Corey. Spot on.
Sen. Rand Paul, a medical doctor and Comer's Republican colleague in the Kentucky delegation, went even further, stating that "instead of lowering drug prices," PBM regulations likely "will put more money in the pockets of the Big Pharma CEOs."
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board published an editorial in which they argued that "you have to smile at Ms. [Lina] Khan," who runs the Biden-Harris FTC, "portraying big drug makers as victims in her [anti-PBM] suit." It also stated that even the Biden-Harris administration's report admits "that they pass on 90% to 98% of rebate dollars to their clients—i.e., employer, union and Medicare Part D plans," yet it still wants to regulate these groups.
As an influential committee chairman in Congress, Comer has the power to stomp out this Biden-Harris cronyism. I am optimistic that he will soon recognize just how deceptive the current White House's report against PBMs is and that he will begin working on the side of freedom instead of on the side of the drug companies.
The healthcare affordability of millions of Americans is depending on it.
Stacy Washington (@StacyOnTheRight) is the CEO of Share Net Ministries, a foundation providing access to high cost medications for people suffering from rare diseases. She is also host of Stacy on the Right on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125, an ambassador for the America First Policy Institute, and a frequent guest on Fox News.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.