Gov. Josh Shapiro Delivers Remarks On Statewide Transparency In Healthcare Policy In Pennsylvania

3 months ago

On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) delivered remarks on healthcare transparency.

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Transcript

00:00Jessica Benham. I represent the 36th district which is down in Allegheny County and I am the

00:05prime sponsor of House Bill 1993, now Act 77 of 2024. The governor signed it into law last week

00:13and I wanted to especially recognize a few folks who are here today. Commissioner Dan Vogler,

00:18Commissioner Chris Sonata, Commissioner Dan Kennedy, Commissioner Tim McGonigal,

00:23and City of Newcastle Mayor Mark Alisco. And of course we appreciate everyone else who is able

00:28to be here too. I've been traveling the commonwealth for nine months going to pharmacies

00:34and talking about the abuses of pharmacy benefits managers and I got to tell you uh you know this is

00:40by far the most media I've seen show up and of course I assume it's because you are all just

00:44very interested in PBMs and and nothing else. But for those who don't know pharmacy benefits

00:52managers are a corporate monopoly that are putting our local pharmacies out of business

00:57and are raising costs for patients and they're the secretive middlemen that people don't know

01:03exists and that's why legislation like this is so critically important. I want to recognize the

01:09bipartisan efforts that have led to the passage of this new law. My colleague in the house

01:15Representative Gatos, Senator Brooks is here from the senate, we also had Senator Ward and Senator

01:21Tariq Leone. We're in critical critical partners and of course from the administration Commissioner

01:26Humphreys and our Governor Josh Shapiro. Taking on corporate greed isn't easy but it's something

01:32that I do every day in this role and let me tell you the pharmacy benefits managers are not happy

01:38that this legislation is cutting into the profits they've been holding on to. Those profits that are

01:44raising costs for consumers and are under reimbursing our pharmacies so that they go out

01:49of business but no more. Pennsylvania is not a haven for corporations that want to take advantage

01:56of patients and of local businesses and that's why we've passed one of the strongest laws for

02:02PBM reform anywhere in the nation and I want to thank especially Governor Shapiro for his

02:08leadership on this issue as well. Pharmacies like hometown pharmacies are pharmacy is

02:18are critical health care providers but not only that they do things like sponsor our kids sports

02:24teams march in our parade you know and are here anytime we have questions about our prescriptions

02:30or other health care questions as well and we need them. We've had 140 pharmacies go out of business

02:36just in Pennsylvania since the start of this year alone and the goal of this legislation is to stop

02:43that trend to give our insurance commissioner the tools that he needs to address the terrible

02:48practices of pharmacy benefits managers to keep our pharmacies in business and to lower costs for

02:55patients. I'm really glad to be here today to get to celebrate this with all of you and I have

03:01the honor of introducing Ron McDermott from hometown pharmacy.

03:06Thanks.

03:15Thank you representative Benham and thank you for your leadership throughout this process.

03:20Hometown pharmacy is excited to be hosting this landmark event and wants to extend a warm welcome

03:26to Governor Shapiro to our legislative partners our local dignitaries here in Newcastle and all

03:32of our industry partners including Value Drug. I'd also like to recognize our community focused

03:38ownership group including Bob Eckert, Gary Morozek and our founder Wanda Morozek.

03:49Growing from the legacy that Wanda started right here in Newcastle over 20 years ago we now employ

03:55over 80 caring Pennsylvania pharmacists and technicians who go the extra mile

04:02every day for our patients and we thank every one of you. Thank you very very much.

04:10As a result of bipartisan support as mentioned from both parts of our legislature and Governor

04:15Shapiro and his administration Act 77 of 2024 has now been passed. Many thanks to all of you for

04:25listening to your community pharmacies and the constituents that are out there that are our

04:30patients. We still have a lot of work to do in order to ensure the long-term viability of

04:35pharmacies in Pennsylvania and maintain access for our patients. We cannot see more pharmacies

04:43close in our state. I'll repeat that we cannot see more pharmacies close in our state. This

04:48legislation is a stepping stone to curtailing and regulating some of the harmful and unfair

04:54business practices of pharmacy benefit managers. These are one-sided and unilaterally imposing

05:01regulations on both our community pharmacies and the patients who want to visit us. We believe

05:08this legislation will help stem the tide of pharmacy closings and provide our Pennsylvania

05:13patients the right to use the pharmacy of their choice with fewer with fewer strings attached.

05:20Our community pharmacies just so you all realize we do the extras that the most vulnerable patients

05:25out there need us to do. It may be something as simple as compliance packaging or home delivery

05:34or maybe it's a little extra time with your pharmacist to discuss your medications that you

05:38wouldn't get in another pharmacy that doesn't take that time. Access to our pharmacies and our

05:44community pharmacies like this is critical. Our pharmacies are there because we want to help and

05:50treat our patients. We want to be there for our patients and now finally the Pennsylvania

05:56Insurance Department will have the teeth and authority to regulate and correct PBM injustice

06:01injustices and as a result access to quality health care will be more readily available for

06:08patients and our pharmacies should therefore suffer less harm from the anti-competitive tactics

06:15used by PBMs. I want to thank you all again for being here and for your support of community

06:21pharmacy. I'd now like to introduce Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys and also thank

06:26him and the department for their support. Thank you and thank you governor for your

06:38leadership on this issue. Thank you to the representatives and the senator for getting

06:43this important bipartisan bill done and to hometown pharmacy for hosting us here today.

06:48Before Act 77, PBMs paid a $35 fee and were essentially given a welcome to Pennsylvania card.

06:56Not anymore. Act 77 gives the Pennsylvania Insurance Department the tools to regulate PBMs

07:02in our in their certain predatory practices. It contains five important protections for

07:09Pennsylvanians and for local pharmacies. First, the act prohibits a PBM from paying unaffiliated

07:17and independent pharmacies less than the amount that the PBM reimburses its own affiliated

07:24pharmacies and it requires a PBM to pass along at least 50 percent of any drug manufacturer rebates

07:32to the health benefit plan ultimately to benefit consumers. Second, the act places strict regulation

07:40around patient steering which is the practice of channeling prescriptions to the PBM's own

07:45pharmacies. The act prohibits a PBM or insurer from requiring a patient to purchase drugs

07:53exclusively through a mail order pharmacy or through a pharmacy affiliated with that PBM

07:58and it does not allow a PBM to automatically transfer a patient's prescriptions away from the

08:05in-network pharmacy of that patient's choosing. Third, the act provides important protections for

08:12patients when they show up at a pharmacy. It prohibits the so-called clawing back of extra

08:18money that's higher than the cost of the drug itself. Paying more than you would if you were

08:24uninsured just doesn't make sense and it won't be allowed to happen again. Fourth, the act requires

08:32a PBM to establish an adequate and accessible pharmacy network that provides for the convenient

08:39patient access to pharmacies within a reasonable distance of that patient's home. The network must

08:45not be limited to PBM affiliated pharmacies and it must meet or exceed more robust medicare part d

08:53pharmacy network standards. Fifth and finally, the act imposes new reporting requirements on PBMs.

09:01Beginning in July of 2026, PBMs must submit an annual report to us at PID that will show the

09:09amount of rebates that the PBM received from drug manufacturers and did not pass through to its

09:15health insurer clients. It'll show all administrative fees that the PBM received from all drug manufacturers

09:22and any differences between what it pays its affiliate pharmacies and the retail and

09:28independent pharmacists. In short, act 77 gets a lot done for Pennsylvanians and for our pharmacy

09:35partners and at PID we're excited to move forward with its implementation. So thank you all again for

09:40the opportunity to be here today. I'll now turn it over to Senator Brooks, the Health and Human

09:45Services Committee Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to join each and every one of you.

09:56So often we hear or read about what we disagree on but today we are here together to talk about

10:05something we all agree on and what we work collectively on and we partnered on. I want to

10:11thank the Governor for his leadership on this issue in getting this done. For so many years we

10:18talked about a strong transparency bill and a PBM bill and here we are we got it done. So again I

10:26want to thank the Governor for your leadership. I also want to thank

10:34I also want to thank each caucus. Our leadership, the Republican caucus, Senator Pittman, Senator Ward,

10:41but I also want to thank Senator Costa's caucus and the two caucuses in the House of Representatives.

10:49Again, working together to get things done and the thing that united us is the topic and

10:56understanding of knowing how important our hometown and community pharmacists are.

11:03Regardless of what age we are, when we are at the most vulnerable of times, whether we have the flu,

11:12whether we have the chronic illness, or whether we're seriously ill, our hometown community

11:20pharmacist is there. There's someone we trust, there's someone we can confide in,

11:27and there's someone that can guide us in those challenging times.

11:34We're tired of the 1-800-Nowhere numbers. We need our community pharmacists in our communities.

11:47Our families need them and each of us rely on them. So again I want to thank the pharmacists,

11:55Ron McDermott for your advocacy on this legislation. He worked tirelessly over the years.

12:03And also again the governor and all of our caucuses and I want to thank each and every

12:08one of you for supporting our hometown community pharmacies. Thank you very much.

12:13And I would like to introduce Representative Gatos.

12:18Thank you Senator Brooks. Well said and my colleagues have have articulated very well that

12:25this was truly a bipartisan effort. It was bicameral and we couldn't have done it without

12:31everybody working together and of course having Governor Shapiro sign this bill. So we thank the

12:36governor for taking this across the finish line. So you know I am absolutely pleased to be talking

12:43about this bill because we have been working on this transparency piece for almost 15 years.

12:49Now I've been in the legislature since 2019 and we we have had several transparency bills,

12:57but this is the first time that we have had such a comprehensive bill take this across the finish

13:02line. We all know that medication management is the most important aspect of health care

13:08from your doctor to your pharmacist to you and all doctors and pharmacies deal with PBMs.

13:15But many of the practices that were set forth by PBMs have resulted

13:20in barriers to really providing good health care.

13:26How many times have you been to the doctor and get a prescription only to find out that

13:29the pharmacy it wasn't covered or the price was prohibitive or your pharmacist was unable

13:35to get the prescription that you were prescribed or you were told that you no longer could go to

13:39your pharmacist that you trusted all your life. This is exactly why we are here today

13:45because affordable prescription drugs is not just a matter of convenience,

13:50it's a fundamental aspect of health care for millions of Pennsylvanians.

13:55And I want to shift a little bit to talking about the past of PBMs were set up to be efficient to

14:00help provide better health care but over the period of years that these PBMs I don't want to

14:07say game the system but essentially I can say it but I mean look it was time for us to take it

14:14address this and by the way for almost 50 years they were working pretty well so but there really

14:21came a time to really re-examine how that these PBMs were working for the consumer.

14:29And what we found out is that 80 percent of the market was controlled by three PBMs. Now not all

14:36PBMs are bad but when you get only get 80 percent of the market being controlled by three that

14:44starts to become not free market. So this bill really allows the free market to thrive

14:52and serve the customer. So I'm proud to have been a part of this effort to advance this

14:57legislation and I thank Representative Benham for all the hard work she did to get this across

15:03the finish line. And this law signifies the dedication that fostering health care and in

15:11health care environment upholds patient welfare and supports our local pharmacies which are really

15:17a vital portion of our communities. So I look forward to seeing the positive impact once we

15:22get this implemented and thanks Governor Shapiro for signing this legislation in the law. Thank you

15:27very much. And I'll tell you that the star of the show here is Jack Melvin. Jack is a customer of

15:41this pharmacy and really is going to tell us a little bit about really what the effect is on

15:47the consumer. Thank you Jack. Thank you everyone and Governor for coming. I'm going to speak

15:59extemporaneously here about the value that I've experienced here with Hometown Pharmacy.

16:08Previously about four years ago I have had that much experience with Hometown Pharmacy.

16:16I was dealing with a small family-owned standalone pharmacy, family-owned,

16:25and they went out of business because they couldn't afford to keep the doors open.

16:32This must stop. I am a businessman, have been for all my life. The bedrock of an economy whether

16:42it's in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or anyplace else is going to be the small businessman

16:49and if we let them go under, whether it happens to be healthcare, manufacturing,

16:56whatever it happens to be, we are not going to have an economy.

17:04What Hometown Pharmacy has offered to me and all of my friends that I've brought here

17:11is that they exemplify a level of care that is unexcelled. I have never experienced this.

17:21Your big brick and mortar stores never can offer this. You're nothing more than a number.

17:29How many times, I'm here quite often, do I hear the owners refer to the customers coming in the door

17:37by their first name and they bid them goodbye when they leave,

17:44inferring that they're really happy about having the business.

17:49Well, I must tell you that the legislation that they have initially started to pass here

17:58is excellent but there's a lot of work to be done from my understanding

18:03and for it to have 70, 80, 100 or maybe even 140 pharmacies close in the Commonwealth of

18:12Pennsylvania since the start of this calendar year is totally unacceptable. To leave the big

18:19boys run everything and take all the money and you can't as a private owner stay in business.

18:28I must say this, Governor, vanguarding this as you have and others,

18:39you must have all the accolades that I can bestow upon you.

18:50You know, we're just a little place in western Pennsylvania, Newcastle, Pennsylvania, but

18:58that we actually have the Governor here, I am impressed. I really am impressed and I was very,

19:07very honored to meet him. I'm going to let the Governor take over.

19:16You're doing great, Jack. I mean, take your time. You can answer all their questions.

19:21Well, only ones that I have interaction directly with the pharmacy. Now, you know,

19:26this, these two owners, these two, these two owners. Anyway, take your time. Anyway, the one

19:34thing I wanted to say before I let the Governor speak, hold on, you'll get to speak, is that

19:43even though this is the flagship store for Hometown Pharmacy, they have other stores.

19:55I'm not sure, 12, 13. That doesn't make it necessarily that they're outside the loop

20:03of profitability only by making it up in volume. All their stores are subjected to the same

20:13constraints that this store experiences. Now, not so much, I suppose, the stores they have in Ohio,

20:22but in the Commonwealth, that's our business right here and that's the reason

20:27the Governor is so valuable to us. Thanks, Jack.

20:33Thanks, Jack. It's a real tough act to follow. Hey, gang, it is great to be back in Newcastle

20:41and Jack, I want to thank you for the kind words and thanks for sharing your personal story and

20:46I want to say I've been in Newcastle a whole bunch of times and while I was standing up here

20:52and those raindrops began to fall, it made me realize every single time I've been in Newcastle,

20:58it has rained, so maybe it's me, Mayor, but I did notice that even as those few raindrops came down,

21:05Senator Brooks had her sunglasses on, which is a good omen, and the fact that Senator Brooks is

21:11here, the fact that Representative Gatos is here, and the fact that our lead sponsor,

21:17Representative Benham is here, tells you a story about how we get stuff done in Pennsylvania,

21:23bringing Republicans and Democrats together to solve real challenges. That's what the good

21:30people of Pennsylvania want us to do and so I want to begin today by saying just how grateful I am

21:36to these three legislative leaders for seeing a problem, for working on it, for educating not just

21:43themselves but their colleagues, and for ultimately getting this bill through the legislative process

21:50in a divided legislature and getting it to my desk so we could get this signed into law. I am deeply

21:56grateful to these three fine lawmakers and I'm especially grateful that Senator Brooks has her

22:02sunglasses on. Thank you very, very much. We appreciate you. I want to say a little bit about

22:08being here at Hometown and having the privilege to stand next to Wanda and hear a little bit about

22:13her story and how they built this wonderful business. Hometown is a great pharmacy here in

22:19Lawrence County. It's also a place where I feel really at home because the pharmacy that I go to

22:26when I'm at our family home in Montgomery County, it's called the Abington Pharmacy. It's a place

22:31where you pick up your prescription, a place where you grab a snack, a place maybe where you pick up

22:36a greeting card, but it's also a place where literally folks know your name and they're there

22:42to talk to you and treat you as a friend and as a neighbor. You know Lori and I are blessed with

22:47four children and Wanda we went through that cycle in our lives where it felt like every other day we

22:53were picking up amoxicillin at the pharmacy because one of our kids of course had an ear infection

22:59and I remember walking into the pharmacist and say which kid has the ear infection today right or

23:05how's it going Josh and I just want you to know that I place real value in places like Hometown.

23:11I place real value in these pharmacies not just because of the drugs that they dispense

23:17but because of the way in which they enrich a community and the way they're there for their

23:22neighbors. These local independent pharmacies as you heard from Ron and Jack and others they are

23:28facing a lot of challenges right now here in rural communities and all across Pennsylvania.

23:35For too long we have had these PBMs, these middlemen between the drug manufacturers and

23:41the pharmacies manipulating and profiting off of the pharmacy system at the expense of consumers

23:49and certainly at the expense of community pharmacies like Hometown and like Abington.

23:55They've been driving up prices, they've been unilaterally changing the terms of contracts

24:00with pharmacies and they've been picking and choosing who the winners and the losers are

24:05in that equation. Listen when the middlemen get rich our local independent pharmacies

24:12are the losers and that is not okay with me nor any of the folks who are up here. Since January

24:181st as you heard a moment ago from Jack over 70 independent pharmacies have closed their doors in

24:25the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That is unacceptable and it makes it harder for Pennsylvanians

24:31especially rural Pennsylvanians to get access to the medications that they so desperately need.

24:36Consider this for a moment 21 of our 67 counties already now have fewer than 10 pharmacies within

24:44their boundaries and a whole bunch of those counties have large geographic surface areas

24:50making the drive to get your prescriptions much further much longer and much more arduous.

24:56Local independent pharmacies are being forced out of business primarily due to the greed of these

25:03PBMs and at the same time the good people of Pennsylvania are getting screwed over with much

25:09higher prescription drug costs and reducing access to the medications that they so desperately need

25:16and while all that is happening consumers getting screwed and local pharmacies shutting down PBMs

25:23well they're making record profits off the backs of Pennsylvanians. So my administration and

25:28lawmakers like the folks here from both parties we came together to do something about it. Back in

25:35February I called for meaningful reform in this area and House and Senate leaders who many of

25:41them were already working on this they got to work even harder. Just last week I signed into

25:48law landmark reforms of PBMs sponsored sponsored by Representative Benham with incredible assist

26:00from Representative Gatos and Senator Brooks and many others to stop PBMs from screwing over

26:07Pennsylvanians. I want you to know that this isn't just a one-line bill that says hey PBMs stop

26:13screwing over Pennsylvanians. There's a whole lot of substance in it let me very quickly walk you

26:18through it. Number one PBMs can no longer dictate what pharmacy you can go to to get your medicine

26:24from. That practice called steering where they would literally steer you away from a place like

26:29hometown that is now a thing of the past. Second PBMs used to artificially inflate the costs you

26:38paid at the pharmacy in order to increase their own profits. So listen if you were trying to take

26:43a medication that costs about five bucks and the PBM set the cost at 20 bucks we ended up helping

26:50them make a profit driving up the cost of your prescription drugs and making it harder for

26:56pharmacies like hometown. Those clawbacks that those PBMs used to engage in drive up costs at

27:03the pharmacy counter and they are set by the PBMs not the pharmacy itself. We put a stop to that

27:10predatory practice as well. Third the other key piece of this legislation is we now have some

27:16transparency and accountability in the process. So Commissioner Humphreys who leads our insurance

27:22department he is now in a position where he can hold them even more accountable. He can gather

27:28more data from them and there can be real transparency. So if further reform is needed

27:34I know these three lawmakers behind me and the coalition of Republicans and Democrats that they

27:39built they'll be able to get to work on any other modifications or amendments to this law. Listen

27:45I'm proud to stand here today in Lawrence County and tell you these reforms that we passed the PBMs

27:53hate these reforms which means we are doing something right and I'm proud of the fact that

27:58we have taken on this big business. I'm proud of the fact that we've taken on this industry in order

28:04to stand up for places like hometown. Now after I made my announcement back in February that we

28:09needed to regulate PBMs man you should have seen them lining up to come see me in my office. They

28:16all came in they all sat down they all tried to make their point and you know what I did? I sent

28:22them out of my office they passed this bill and I signed it into law and we stood up for the good

28:27people of Pennsylvania. We're making sure that more money stays in consumers pockets and more

28:37places like hometown stay open in our communities especially rural communities across Pennsylvania.

28:44Listen here's the last thing I want to say it should be lost on no one that this is the only

28:52state in the nation our commonwealth of Pennsylvania with a divided legislature. I'm the

28:57only governor with a divided legislature. Think about that for a minute the senate led by Republicans

29:02the house led by Democrats. It's really hard in these politically polarized times to have a

29:09conversation let alone get anything done yet here in Pennsylvania we are proving that we can bring

29:16Republicans and Democrats together to get meaningful things done to pass meaningful reform like this

29:23PBM reform to come together and make the first significant progress on K-12 education in

29:30generations meeting the mandate that the court put out to us to not only fund our schools adequately

29:36but drive those dollars into the schools that need it most. To come together after 30 years of talking

29:42about higher education and the need to invest there and the need to put more money into students

29:48pockets to drive down the cost of higher education. We came together we worked together we passed that

29:55reform together. After 20 years of listening to seniors call out for a tax cut for an expansion

30:02of the property tax rent rebate we came together Democrats and Republicans and passed the largest

30:08targeted tax cut for seniors in nearly 20 years. After more than 50 years of our state police

30:17and our infrastructure interests the people build our roads and bridges literally having

30:22a pull from the same pot of money and being forced to choose between public safety and a strong public

30:28infrastructure we work together to decouple our infrastructure funding from our state police funding

30:34and we managed to increase funding for both infrastructure and for law enforcement hiring

30:39nearly a thousand new state troopers and over a thousand new municipal police officers across

30:46this commonwealth. Folks here in Pennsylvania we are proving that we can get stuff done by bringing

30:55Republicans and Democrats together we are proving that we stand together for the good people of

31:02Pennsylvania and listen again I know these are hyper polarized times but when lawmakers like

31:09this put aside whatever differences they have and we move the ball down the field we should

31:15celebrate that as a commonwealth we should be proud of that yes we should hold true to our values and

31:23our particular views and we're not going to agree on everything but when we do come together and we

31:28do agree on something it's worth celebrating that's why I'm back here in Lawrence County today

31:34here in Newcastle at the hometown pharmacy because we moved the ball down the field we

31:39lowered prescription drug costs we stood up for our community members and we stood by small

31:45businesses like this that were just looking for a shot I'm proud of that work we did and I'm grateful

31:50to these lawmakers and others who are here today who made that possible thank you all very much

31:56for joining us today we appreciate it thank you thank you and with that we'll be happy to take

32:04some questions from the media thanks to the transparency measures that are in place in this

32:17law our insurance commissioner commissioner Humphreys now has the tools he needs to be

32:21able to dig into those questions to be able to provide that information to lawmakers if they want

32:27to make additional amendments or changes and to the public so that they know the impact that these

32:32pbms these greedy middlemen have had on the process there will be accountability both because

32:44the insurance commissioner now has the tools to bring about the accountability and because

32:48lawmakers leaders like them have the ability to go back and make additional changes if they're

32:53necessary vice president i'm sorry governor hey hang on i got a sense of where you're going with

33:00this i want to see if there's other questions on this topic yeah how soon could it be until

33:05pharmacies local pharmacies really feel the difference in look i think it's going to begin

33:11to be felt soon by putting these measures in place and stopping the pbms from steering folks away from

33:17hometown or from the pricing that was increasing the costs for consumers while driving up record

33:23profits from pbms i think we're going to begin to feel the effects of that very very soon

33:32will pharmacists be able to share their contracts without getting cease and desist letters

33:36commissioner you want to address that they're welcome to share the contracts with us today

33:40and we can go back to both the pbm and the insurer to negotiate what's appropriate and what's not like

33:46a gag clause would fall in the not so appropriate category thank you anything else on this yeah

33:53governor the uh there are three uh large um medicare advantage plans elements etna and cvs

34:04that have all said they're raising costs for medicare advantage plans which most pennsylvanians

34:10starting in january as a result of federal changes to um the drug pricing so the insurers

34:18are going to have to pick up eighty percent of the price instead of twenty percent so they're

34:21going to pass it along to all of us yeah how much of a difference i mean obviously this is federal

34:27matters but how much of a difference does this legislation how much do you think how are you

34:31going to measure the effectiveness of this well i'm going to ask the commissioner to come up and

34:35speak about the specifics we're going to be able to measure it because we now have transparency

34:39measures in place to be able to report back to lawmakers and the public as to what's happening

34:44with pricing ideally not only how we're lowering the pricing as a result of this new law but how

34:49we're able to slow the effects that pbms were having on our community pharmacies so more uh

34:56more community pharmacies will remain open ease of access will be there and prescription drug

35:02costs will come down mr commissioner yeah and i the only thing i would add to that is now

35:08the insurance department will have a better view into the development of formularies and where

35:12those drugs are put on the formulary in the commercial plan so that we'll be able to take

35:18a review of whether too many drugs are being moved to more expensive tiers for instance versus

35:24more balanced across the tiers to make sure that people can afford the drugs that they need

35:28okay any else yes governor shapiro have you your team your lawyers or anyone in your orbit

35:37received paperwork for bp betting i'll tell you what i want to do here i'm going to answer your

35:42questions but i i have great respect for senator brooks and represent gatos and everybody up here

35:46i am certain without even making eye contact with them that they do not want to be standing

35:50behind me when i answer these questions so you are welcome to stand here you're also welcome

35:56to take a step away if you want i'm i'm really sensitive to that okay y'all can do whatever you

36:01want listen um here is what i will say i have addressed this issue many times um as to any

36:08process i think you should address those process questions to the harris campaign i think they are

36:14best suited to be able to answer them i saw that the philadelphia democratic committee bob brady

36:21and speaker joanna mcclinton endorsed a harris shapiro ticket what is your response to that and

36:28did you know that was coming no and here's what i will say the vice president now has a deeply

36:35personal decision to make one that she is obviously quite familiar with because she

36:39went through it with then candidate biden when she was selected to serve as the vice president

36:44of the united states that is a deeply personal decision that should be made free from any

36:50political pressure and while i am of course grateful for the kindness that speaker mcclinton

36:57and congressman brady shared this is a process that the vice president needs to go through

37:03and make her decision based upon factors that she lays forward to that question we've seen

37:11in the last several days the editorial board of the new york times now black lives matter

37:16have criticized the choice of vice president harris you have foursquare endorsed her what do

37:23you think of these outside entities suggesting a primary is needed within the party or as the new

37:31york times suggested that she's just absolutely the wrong choice well i haven't read those editorials

37:37but i have the gist of it based on your question so allow me to answer it generally not in response

37:42to any particular writing anyone could have jumped into this process anyone could it was an open

37:49process the vice president jumped in i endorsed her immediately as of course did president biden

37:55she has earned this nomination she has earned the support of the needed number of delegates to make

38:03her the nominee she has done an extraordinary job over the last what has it been 72 96 hours

38:10something like that of consolidating the party behind her for anyone calling for any open process

38:17i will tell you we had one and you know what she kicked butt and she earned the support and she

38:22earned the nomination and i'm proud to support her i'll take another one or two and democrats could

38:29win every swing state except i just didn't hear the beginning of your question democrats could win

38:33every swing state except pennsylvania and georgia and still lose meanwhile if former president trump

38:38gets pennsylvania and goes to the white house what's your message to pennsylvania voters

38:43are you playing that game online where you do the electoral college voting look look it doesn't take

38:49a political expert i think actually democrats and republicans would agree on this that pennsylvania

38:54is the center of the political universe we were 248 years ago when on the other side of the state

39:01we helped this democracy be formed when our founders came together with a vision for what

39:06they wanted in this nation a place where we could be cloaked in freedom where everyone would have

39:12opportunity and over the last 248 years we've perfected our union we've gotten better in our

39:20democracy we have made sure that we addressed the problems that existed in our democracy and

39:26made sure that everyone no matter what they looked like or what their gender is could participate

39:32in our democracy we should be proud of our heritage here in this commonwealth and the

39:39role that we have played in perfecting our union and i think pennsylvanians and pennsylvania voters

39:46of both parties should be proud of the fact and independents should be proud of the fact now that

39:51they have such an outsized voice in this process the road to the white house leads through

39:57pennsylvania and listen it also doesn't take an expert to know the last two presidential races

40:02came down to a point or less i expect this race will be close as well and i'm going to do

40:07everything in my political power to advocate for kamala harris to be the 47th president of the

40:12united states we'll take one more governor can we ask a question on another subject if we could

40:19i wish i mean go ahead you told katie ka from pittsburgh uh that the harris campaign did

40:27contact you on sunday to talk about her uh flying through that presidential seat have you had any

40:33further contact since sunday any discussion the vice first off i was uh really quite honored

40:40just a few moments after the president issued his statement to receive a call from president

40:44biden and i think it is important that we don't lose sight of the fact in all of this that

40:51president biden is a patriot who served our nation honorably and made a really difficult

40:59choice and i appreciate the fact that there are people here who support president biden and don't

41:03that's okay but you can't take away anything from the fact that he has served this nation honorably

41:09over more than 50 years following his call i received a call from vice president

41:14harris and we talked about one thing and one thing only she asked well i guess technically two one

41:20she asked me for my endorsement and two we discussed how to defeat donald trump here in

41:25pennsylvania that's all we discussed and she and i have not spoken since then

41:31nine yahoo is speaking on capitol hill today some republicans are saying that it was a snub

41:36for harris not to participate in the address what do you say to them well i i understand that

41:41republicans are nervous about the vice president they're going to look for any excuse to try and

41:46attack her so i assume this is just more of the same from them yeah please one county to the north

41:54as you're aware there was a pretty atrocious homicide young boy the young child killed and

42:01then dismembered there have been across the commonwealth calls for tougher hate crime

42:06legislation because of that your stance because we've talked to local prosecutors in mercer county

42:13the current law really deals yeah as this as a misdemeanor not as the federal sources would

42:20would you like to push for tougher legislation today well first off let me say that uh to the

42:25family i just you know i want to continue to express my prayers my blessings for them to

42:35find some level of peace and calm in what is a horrific situation for them and i say that not

42:43just as a governor i say that as a father of four there is nothing worse than losing a child

42:49that is the first thing we should all you know find the humanity to share our prayers

42:55with that family second i'm not going to certainly get ahead of the local investigators

43:02they're going to make whatever charging decisions they make in general i have believed for 20 years

43:09that we need to update our hate crimes laws they're known as ethnic intimidation laws here

43:15in the commonwealth of pennsylvania in fact when i was a state representative serving

43:20where representative benham and representative gato sound serve and and with then representative

43:24brooks i attempted to strengthen our hate crimes laws in order to add gender identity and sexual

43:33orientation to those laws to afford people more protections the reason i did that then and the

43:40reason why i continue to advocate for today and it's my hope that lawmakers will come together

43:45and pass it is because i think it's our responsibility as pennsylvanians to carry

43:51forth the vision of our founder william penn now he might not have ever envisioned a scenario like

43:58what transpired here in pennsylvania but he certainly tried to build a commonwealth that

44:04was warm and welcoming for all a place that would be tolerant a place where all people would be

44:11respected a place where everyone would feel welcome and safe we've got some work to do to

44:18continue to build on penn's vision and to continue to contribute to his legacy and one of the important

44:24ways we could do that is by passing and strengthening our hate crimes laws here in the

44:30commonwealth i want to thank you all for being here we appreciate you and for those of you who

44:34came from out of town because you care so much about pbms make sure you eat in our restaurants

44:39on your way back to wherever you came from thank you gang yeah

Gov. Josh Shapiro Delivers Remarks On Statewide Transparency In Healthcare Policy In Pennsylvania

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