On Jan. 22, the House committees on Energy and Commerce and on Ways and Means will hold two back-to-back hearings with the CEOs of five major health insurance companies with the stated goal of "answer[ing] questions on how we can make health care more affordable for all Americans with commercial insurance coverage."
A statement attributed to Chairmen Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) of Energy and Commerce and Jason Smith (R-Mo.) of Ways and Means noted, "Instead of temporarily bailing out a failing program utilized by a fraction of the country, we have invited five of the top health insurance company CEOs to testify before our committees to have a discussion and answer questions about rising costs, the current state of health care affordability, and the role played by large health insurers."
This hearing is intended to only be the first in a series of hearings to examine the "root causes driving higher health care prices and discuss policies that will lower the cost of care for all Americans."
Invited witnesses include the CEOs of UnitedHealth, CVS, Cigna, Elevance Health, and Ascendiun. These hearings come a few weeks after the president announced he would gather major insurance CEOs to discuss rising premiums, a meeting that could come as soon as this weekend. NCPA encourages the committees to focus on the promise of PBM reform to rein in patient costs, increase access, and level the playing field for community pharmacies.
