Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized the GOP for obstructing essential pharmaceutical reforms in a powerful speech on Wednesday, calling attention to the growing influence of billionaire Elon Musk over the Republican party.
In a hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which discussed reforms on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that these vital changes could already have been law if Republicans hadn’t bowed to Musk’s online pressure last year.
“Republicans are in support, Democrats are in support — so what happened? Well, on December 15th, at 4:15 in the morning, Elon Musk began firing off a barrage of social media posts opposing pharmacy benefit manager reform,” Ocasio-Cortez stated.
“All of a sudden, this bill that had almost unanimous support fell apart in a matter of hours,” she continued. “We had nearly 435 members on board with it — he sends one tweet, and all of a sudden, everyone backs off. And it kills drug pricing reform that would save people money on their insulin, on their asthma inhalers — everything that they need.”
Patient advocates have long argued for limiting the power of PBMs, which often create additional obstacles for patients in the already complex and corporate-driven healthcare system. The proposed reforms, which resulted from years of negotiations, aimed to curb the power of PBMs. These middlemen have been under increasing scrutiny for inflating drug prices for patients and contributing to the decline of small pharmacies across the U.S.
Indeed, language to reform PBMs was initially included in Congress’s December budget bill. However, the GOP leadership removed the proposal after Musk voiced concerns about the resolution’s length and its “pork,” a move critics saw as yielding to the pharmaceutical industry.
Even more troubling, after the proposal was axed, Musk revealed that he didn’t even understand what a PBM was. Ocasio-Cortez pointed this out during her speech.
“And then, to kick it off, five days after he kills pharmacy benefit manager reform, we get this tweet from Elon Musk: ‘What is a ‘pharmacy benefit manager?’” she remarked.
What is a “pharmacy benefit manager”? https://t.co/wQSRCreBDK
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 31, 2024
“The problem here isn’t a substance issue, it’s not a process issue — it’s an oligarchy issue,” Ocasio-Cortez explained. “Whether you’re a Democrat or you’re a Republican, everyone here was elected to be accountable to the people of the United States — not to be governed by tweet, but to be governed by their duly elected representation.”
The lawmaker urged Republicans to resist Musk’s influence and push forward with these critical reforms.
“So I would love a commitment from our Republican counterparts, who we agree with on this issue, to just put it on the floor. And let us vote for it,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And we can actually get a result for the American people by booting this guy out from political influence.”
Sources - https://newrepublic.com/post/191244/elon-musk-popularity-polls
Video Source - https://www.youtube.com/live/jFtWrkczeDo?si=CC5-thCkrsEzFvOU&t=8598
Last modified: February 28, 2025
