Roger Marshall and Bernie Sanders — unlikely allies in prescription-drug fight | Opinion
Maybe, just maybe, Washington isn’t a total write-off after all.
If our U.S. Senator Roger Marshall can find common ground with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, maybe there’s hope for this country’s government after all.
The ray of sunshine comes via Friday’s meeting of the Wichita Pachyderm Club, the local bastion of everything conservative.
Marshall spoke there Friday and most of it was GOP talking points we’ve all heard before: The southern border’s too open, the federal deficit’s too high, China’s a threat, etc.
But then someone asked a question about prescription drugs — and Marshall’s answer was a bombshell: He’s working on that with Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist.
“Believe it or not, Bernie Sanders and I have a growing relationship,” Marshall said. “He’s actually very bright, and he’s very thoughtful.”
Upon hearing that, my first thought was: Cue the Apocalypse in 3, 2, 1 . . .
But then it didn’t happen. What did happen was some surprised gasps and a woman sitting near me remarked, “Oh dear.”
It’s not a total bromance just yet, as Marshall continued: “Often we’ll agree on the same goals, where we disagree, of course, is how to get there. His solution is always more government and my solution is more innovation.”
But the pair have set those differences aside for now to focus on what they do agree on: that mysterious middlemen are needlessly raising the prices you pay for the prescription drugs you need.
“People are concerned about their out-of-pocket costs, and this is where Bernie and I agree: that something called the pharmacy benefit manager is controlling that market and taking a big chunk of that pie out of the equation, and really brings no value to it,” Marshall said.
Pharmacy benefit managers are the companies that decide what drugs your insurance company will cover, called the “formulary,” and how much the insurer will pay for the drugs.
Benefit managers can usually use the bargaining power of volume sales to negotiate discounts or rebates with drug companies.
But the system has come under fire for lack of transparency in how much of those discounts are actually passed through to consumers.
Plus, there’s nothing that prevents big pharmacies from owning their own benefit management companies, a clear and present conflict of interest.
And, benefit managers are often paid a commission based on a percentage of the price of the drugs they put in the formulary, so the complaint there is that they have a reverse incentive to favor more expensive drugs instead of cheaper alternatives.
Hence, the Marshall-Sanders partnership.
“He and I are working together, maybe one of the most liberal people and most conservative people in the Senate, coming together (to) solve this,” Marshall said.
One of the benefits of being what my industry calls a “senior” journalist (read that “old”) is that you remember the way things used to be.
And I remember the days before our politics became so flat-out nasty that it’s a jaw-dropping exception today for a conservative senator and liberal senator to work together on something to benefit the American people.
The Kansas-specific example that comes to mind is the longtime productive friendship and working relationship of Senate legends Republican Bob Dole of Kansas and Democrat George McGovern of South Dakota.
Dole was a conservative’s conservative and McGovern, a champion of liberalism. Both were their party’s nominees for president.
But maybe their most enduring legacy was working together to hammer out food policy — reforming food stamps and school lunches and establishing WIC, the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.
Together, they won the World Food Prize in 2008. One of the biggest honors in the movement to end world hunger is called the McGovern-Dole Leadership Award.
The cooperation between Marshall and Sanders hasn’t reached that level yet. And with the current divisive climate in Washington, it may never.
But it is a hopeful start.
So keep at it, Sens. Marshall and Sanders. You’re on the right track, from politics as usual to statesmanship.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Roger Marshall and Bernie Sanders — unlikely allies in prescription-drug fight | Opinion."
