Inside STAT: Employers haven’t fought to lower drug prices — until now

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Legislation aiming to reduce drug prices has thus far focused on changes to federal programs such as Medicare. But Walmart, Pepsi, and other large companies provide employer-sponsored health insurance to more than 150 million Americans, making them the largest footers of health bills. Now, these and a coalition of other Fortune 500 companies also want in on the drug pricing debate. The coalition brings together various health- and employer-centric groups, and hopes that lawmakers will think about drug pricing policies that will affect the most Americans. “Someone needs to represent the sector that is actually paying most of the bill,” says Bill Kramer, executive director for national health policy at the Pacific Business Group on Health, one of the members of the new group. STAT Plus subscribers can read more from STAT’s Nicholas Florko here.