Pharmacists are calling on Congress to pass reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs, who act as middlemen between pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies, and are supposed to negotiate the cost of drugs to save patients money.

But pharmacists like Pine Plains’ Nasir Mahmood say they haven’t been doing that, and instead, they’ve driven up costs and made it harder for locally owned pharmacists.

Standing alongside NY-18 Rep. Pat Ryan on Monday, Mahmood called on Congress and Speaker Mike Johnson to pass two bipartisan bills: the Pharmacists Fight Back Act and the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act.

The bills would make PBMs more transparent and give patients more options to use the pharmacy they prefer, instead of being forced to use a pharmacy by their insurance provider.

Mahmood said the bills are essential to locally owned pharmacies around New York and the nation.

“They pay us below cost, and they do not give us a fair contract," he said. "We have no negotiation for the contracts, and they do it on their own.”

According to the National Community Pharmacists Association, passing these bills could save taxpayers up to $5 billion.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents PBMs, but have not yet heard back.