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Fair Pharmacies for Federal Employees Act of 2025
To prohibit the common ownership pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies that provide services under contracts with Federal health plans for Federal employees.
Summary
The bill prohibits the Office of Personnel Management from contracting with health insurance companies that own, operate, or control pharmacies or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It also prohibits OPM and participating health plans from contracting with pharmacy benefit managers that own or operate any pharmacies. The bill defines pharmacies broadly to include mail-order, specialty, retail, hospital, and long-term care pharmacies, and defines pharmacy benefit managers as entities that negotiate drug prices, manage pharmacy networks, or administer prescription drug benefits. The restrictions are intended to prevent conflicts of interest from entities having ownership stakes in both the insurance and pharmacy sides of Federal employee health plans.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
2 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Raja Krishnamoorthi’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP $165,419
- KIRKLAND & ELLIS $108,249
- GOOGLE $24,750
- MCKINSEY & COMPANY $24,300
- ACCENTURE $21,500
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Raja Krishnamoorthi → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 15, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
- Jul 15, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2025
Mr. Krishnamoorthi (for himself and Mrs. Harshbarger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
A BILL
To prohibit the common ownership pharmacy benefit managers and pharmacies that provide services under contracts with Federal health plans for Federal employees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Pharmacies for Federal Employees Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO ANTICOMPETITIVE PHARMACY OWNERSHIP AND CONTRACTS.
(a) Prohibition on Pharmacy or Pharmacy Benefit Manager Ownership by Entities Providing Insurance Under Federal Employee Health Plans.— It shall be unlawful for the Office of Personnel Management to contract with a Federal employee health benefit qualified carrier who—
(1) directly or indirectly owns, operates, controls, or directs the operation of the whole or any part of a pharmacy; or
(2) directly or indirectly owns, operates, or controls the whole or any part of a pharmacy benefit manager, or is directly or indirectly owned, operated, or has its operation directed by the whole or in any part by a pharmacy benefit manager.
(b) Prohibition on Pharmacy Ownership by Entities Providing Pharmacy Benefit Management Services Under Federal Employee Health Plans.—It shall be unlawful of the Office of Personnel Management or a Federal employee health benefit qualified carrier to contract or subcontract with a pharmacy benefit manager who directly or indirectly owns, operates, controls, or directs the operation of the whole or any part of a pharmacy.
(c) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the attorney general of a State under any other provision of law.
(d) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Health plan.—The term “health plan” means a group insurance policy or contract, medical or hospital service agreement, membership or subscription contract, or similar group arrangement provided by a carrier for the purpose of providing, paying for, or reimbursing expenses for health services.
(2) Person.—The term “person” has the meaning given the term in section 8 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 7).
(3) Pharmacy.—
(A) In general.—The term “pharmacy” means any person, business, or entity licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted by a State or a territory of the United States to dispense, deliver, or distribute a controlled substance, prescription drug, or other medication—
(i) to the general public; or
(ii) to a bed patient for immediate administration.
(B) Inclusions.—The term “pharmacy” includes—
(i) a mail-order pharmacy;
(ii) a specialty pharmacy;
(iii) a retail pharmacy;
(iv) a nursing home pharmacy;
(v) a long-term care pharmacy;
(vi) a hospital pharmacy;
(vii) an infusion or other outpatient treatment pharmacy;
(viii) any organization the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registration of which has 1 or more taxonomy codes under the pharmacy section of the National Uniform Claim Committee (or a subsequent organization); and
(ix) any other type of pharmacy.
(4) Pharmacy benefit manager.—The term “pharmacy benefit manager” means any person, business, or other entity, such as a third-party administrator, regardless of whether such person, business, or entity identifies itself as a pharmacy benefit manager, that, either directly or indirectly through an intermediary (including an affiliate, subsidiary, or agent) or an arrangement with a third party—
(A) acts as a negotiator of prices, rebates, fees, or discounts for prescription drugs on behalf of a health plan or health plan sponsor;
(B) contracts with pharmacies to create pharmacy networks and designs and manages such networks; or
(C) manages or administers the prescription drug benefits provided by a health plan, including the processing and payment of claims for prescription drugs, arranging alternative access to or funding for prescription drugs, the performance of utilization management services, including drug utilization review, the processing of drug prior authorization requests, the adjudication of appeals or grievances related to the prescription drug benefit, contracting with network pharmacies, controlling the cost of covered prescription drugs, or the provision of related services.
(5) Qualified carrier.—The term “qualified carrier” means a voluntary association, corporation, partnership, or other nongovernmental organization which is lawfully engaged in providing, paying for, or reimbursing the cost of, health services under group insurance policies or contracts, medical or hospital service agreements, membership or subscription contracts, or similar group arrangements, in consideration of premiums or other periodic charges payable to the carrier, including a health benefits plan duly sponsored or underwritten by an employee organization and an association of organizations or other entities described in this paragraph sponsoring a health benefits plan. <all>
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