# 119-s-526: Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2025 119-s-526, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-526 - As of: 2026-09-10 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-526 - Congress: 119 - Title: Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2025 - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-02-11 - Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA) - Cosponsors: 14 - Policy area: Health - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-09-10 ## Summary **Ending hidden PBM markups and clawbacks** is the bill's central goal. It would force pharmacy benefit managers to disclose fees, stop undisclosed price differences, and face federal oversight and penalties. - Patients and families: It would bar PBMs from keeping undisclosed differences between what a plan pays and what a pharmacy receives and limit arbitrary clawbacks that can raise out‑of‑pocket costs. It also protects patient and provider identity in reports. - Pharmacies and pharmacists: The bill would curb sudden reimbursement clawbacks except for specific fraud or contract exceptions and would allow PBMs to retain concessions only if they pass them through 100 percent and make full disclosures. - Health plans, payers, and regulators: PBMs would report within one year and then annually to the Federal Trade Commission and HHS on pass‑throughs, clawbacks, formulary moves, and affiliate reimbursements. The FTC would enforce the rules and could impose civil penalties up to $1,000,000 per violation. - Workers and whistleblowers: Employees and contractors who report violations would get protection from retaliation and remedies like reinstatement and double back pay with interest. ## Cosponsors (14) - Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] (D-WA), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD), 2025-02-11T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] (R-AR), 2025-02-18T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-09-15T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA] (D-GA), 2025-12-18T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Stronger whistleblower protections: benefit, high. If enacted, workers and contractors who report PBM violations would be protected from retaliation. Covered individuals could get temporary relief, reinstatement, and twice their back pay with interest. They could also recover compensatory damages and attorneys' fees. Employers could not force these… - Ban on hidden PBM billing spreads: benefit, medium. If enacted, PBMs could not charge a health plan one price for a drug and pay a pharmacy a lower price while keeping the difference. PBMs could not arbitrarily cut pharmacy pay or raise fees to offset federal plan payment rules. Clawbacks would be barred except for fraud, contract inconsistency, or… - PBMs must report money flows: benefit, medium. If enacted, each pharmacy benefit manager would have to report to the FTC and HHS within one year and every year after. Reports would show aggregate gaps between what plans pay and what pharmacies receive, price concessions and clawbacks, and explanations for formulary moves that raised patient cos… - Enforcement powers, state lawsuits, defenses: mixed, medium. If enacted, the FTC would enforce the Act like other unfair or deceptive practices and could seek civil penalties up to $1,000,000 per violation. State attorneys general could sue in federal court on behalf of residents, and the FTC could intervene. Defendants could raise an affirmative defense if… - Protect trade secrets and data accuracy: mixed, low. If enacted, the FTC generally could not disclose trade secrets or confidential business information except as needed to enforce the law. The FTC could share anonymized data with GAO and CBO for review. It would also be illegal to knowingly file false PBM reports to federal agencies when those repor… - Who and what the bill covers: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would define key terms used in the law. "Commission" means the FTC. "Covered individual" would include employees and contractors. "Health plan" would include group, individual, and government plans. It would also define PBM services and what counts as a prescription drug. ## Related bills - 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas. - 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona. - 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina. - 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan. - 119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for the State of California. ## Sources - [119-s-526 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/526) ## Related - [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066) - [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913) - [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897) - [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801) - [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755) - [119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-739) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-526 (as of 2026-09-10).