Senators Turn Screws on Health Care Industry as CEO Shooting Fuels Scrutiny [Video]

Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren are teaming up on a bill that targets pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as the health care industry faces growing scrutiny following last week’s shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.

Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, are introducing the Patients Before Monopolies Act to “prohibit joint ownership of PBMs and pharmacies.” This ownership, they argue, allows health care corporations to “enrich themselves at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies,” according to a press release.

The bipartisan bill is being introduced in the House by Representatives Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Diana Harshbarger, a Tennessee Republican.

The bill comes as resentment toward the health care industry reached a boiling point after the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s Brian Thompson in New York City last Wednesday. Thompson was shot while approaching a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan for an investor conference. New York police have charged Luigi Mangione, …