Drug middlemen launch attacks against MAGA allies pushing for health care reforms



Pharmacy benefit managers like CVS are going after President Donald Trump's allies who are seeking meaningful health care reforms for their constituents.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) have become the primary target of PBMs, which are threatened by their push to implement reforms in drug costs. Threatened by MAGA allies, PBMs have now escalated these conflicts to legal disputes.

'These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable.'

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  Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

In April, Huckabee Sanders signed legislation banning PBMs from "engaging in anticompetitive practices" by owning pharmacies. PBMs are tasked with negotiating drug prices between pharmacies and insurance companies, but by buying up pharmacies, they are able to take advantage of the health care system and inflate the cost of pharmaceuticals, pushing competitors out of business, according to Huckabee Sanders' press release.

“For far too long, drug middlemen called PBMs have taken advantage of lax regulations to abuse customers, inflate drug prices, and cut off access to critical medications," Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Not any more. These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable for their anticompetitive actions, but Arkansas has never been afraid to be a conservative leader for America.”

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association promptly retaliated and filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation, calling it a "fundamentally flawed law" that they say "could shutter pharmacies, restrict access to critical medications for patients and families, increase health care costs, and eliminate jobs."

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Landry has become involved in his own legal disputes with PBMs. Landry, alongside Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, filed three separate lawsuits against CVS in June for allegedly interfering with legislation that also would have prevented PBMs from owning and simultaneously operating pharmacies.

"PBMs are not health care providers," Landry said. "They are corporate profiteers inserted into the most intimate part of your life and your health."

Although several of Trump's allies have been targeted by PBMs, criticism of the pharmaceutical industry is generally bipartisan.

Mark Cuban recently called out Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for claiming that Big Pharma is responsible for high drug costs when, he says, PBMs are the real culprit.

"It's because PBMs corrupt healthcare," Cuban said in a post on X. "Big Pharma wishes they could set their own pricing. They don't. PBMs control formularies and manipulate prices, in exchange for providing pharma access to patients. It's how they maximize rebate revenue. In fact, 3 PBMs NEGOTIATE MORE THAN 90% OF REBATES for commercial insurance plans. That's your area of expertise, and you have done nothing."

Cuban's criticisms promptly earned the unlikely praise of some of the most prominent voices in MAGA world.

"Didn’t think I’d be RTing Mark for a while, but he’s 100% right on this issue," Donald Trump Jr. replied in a post on X.

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'We will not comply': Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs executive order rejecting Biden's Title IX changes



Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) formally rejected President Biden's changes to Title IX with an executive order that requires educational institutions in her state to allow students to "maintain their privacy."

Under the new rules as put forth by the Biden administration, gender identity was added as a protected category under sex discrimination. Therefore, a school mustn't treat people different based on their gender identity, meaning that if a male identifies as a female, he cannot be restricted from participating in women's spaces.

"According to the rule, sex is no longer based on the commonly understood biological differences between men and women," Huckabee Sanders said. "It's based on how a person feels or their gender identity. To put it another way, Biden thinks anybody can be a woman just because they say so. As a woman, the mother of a daughter and our state's first chief executive to give birth ... I can't think of anything more offensive or dismissive of the very real, very scientific traits that all women share and that no man does," she added, per Fox News.

Huckabee Sanders went on to state that the "truth is important. Biology is important," and the "differences between men and women are important."

The governor warned that if Biden "gets his way," female college students will have to "shower and change" next to male students.

"Referring to someone using biologically correct pronouns will get you hauled in front of a disciplinary board for harassment," she continued. Adding that scholarships that were once reserved for woman would be open to anyone who claimed to be a woman.

 
Joe Biden wants men in women\u2019s locker rooms, playing women\u2019s sports, and taking women\u2019s scholarships.\n\nNot in Arkansas.
— (@)  
 

The executive order officially stated that "female students must not be denied equal athletic opportunities or forced to risk their safety by having biological males placed into female-designated sports leagues."

As well, it said "students and employees of Arkansas' educational institutions may not be forced to use false pronouns. The right to refuse to speak a lie is guaranteed in the First Amendment. My administration will continue to protect this fundamental right."

It added that "despite the Biden administration’s unlawful administrative rule," at no point should Arkansas law be ignored.

At her press conference announcing the order, Huckabee Sanders was joined by activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines. Gaines said the governor's actions would "prevent unjust sex discrimination, save women's sports, and protect our privacy."

"In signing this executive order, inspired by our Women's Bill of Rights, Governor Sanders has proven herself a true champion of women," Gaines said, according to IWV.

Current NCAA track and field athlete Ainsley Erzen said that she was thankful for the governor's "relentless pursuit of truth."

"In a world that’s so lost and corrupted, thank you for being a shining example of what it truly means to be a woman. you inspire me," she said on X.

 
If only ever state had a governor like @SarahHuckabee \n\nShe is principled, never strays from the message, and takes decisive action. \n\nBiden's asinine Title IX rewrite doesn't stand in Arkansas \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffc
— (@)  
 

Sanders added that she refused to let Biden "erase our existence as women."

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RNC announces candidates who will participate in 3rd GOP presidential primary debate



The Republican National Committee announced that five GOP presidential candidates will participate in the third Republican presidential primary debate, which is scheduled for Wednesday night in Miami, Florida.

The five candidates slated to appear on stage include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and author and entreprenuer Vivek Ramaswamy.

Conspicuously absent from the list is former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner in the GOP nominating contest according to polls. Trump, who had previously opted to skip the first two GOP presidential primary debates, is scheduled to hold a rally in Hialeah, Florida, on Wednesday.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who had participated in the second GOP presidential primary debate, dropped out of the primary late last month. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was also on the debate stage in September, remains in the race but will not be in the third debate.

Candidates were required to meet polling and fundraising thresholds in order to be eligible to participate in the debate.

"We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people. We are especially honored to be the first political party to partner with a Jewish organization for a debate in our partnership with the Republican Jewish Coalition, and our candidates will reaffirm the Republican Party's unwavering support of Israel and the Jewish community on the stage Wednesday night," RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, according to a press release.

"The NBC News Republican Primary Debate with partners Salem Radio Network, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Rumble will air at 8 p.m. ET on NBC News and will be livestreamed on Rumble," the RNC press release notes.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed DeSantis on Monday. "We need someone who won't get distracted but will stay disciplined, who puts this country first and not himself," Reynolds said at a DeSantis rally. "That leader is Ron DeSantis."

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as White House press secretary during a portion of Trump's White House tenure, has endorsed Trump.

"It's not a question between right versus left anymore. It's normal versus crazy, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on crazy," Sanders said in a statement, according to reports. "The time has come to return to the normal policies of the Trump era which created a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America, and that’s why I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President."

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