[Pages H6300-H6301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LATE COLE WILLIAM SCHMIDTKNECHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Auchincloss) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the late Cole 
William Schmidtknecht. Born in 2001 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Cole was a 
22-year-old who, according to his parents, Bil and Shanon, did life on 
his own terms. Cole was known to them as Mr. Independent. As a toddler, 
he walked himself into kindergarten.
  Bil and Shanon said that Cole always stood up for the little guy. 
Growing up, Cole had a love for gaming and enjoyed playing in video 
game tournaments. He had gained a following online on Twitch that he 
shared with many of his gaming friends. His mother, Shanon, said he had 
a lifelong curiosity for knowledge. Cole had an affinity for elephants 
due to their wisdom and kindness and had wanted a tattoo of one on his 
arm.
  Cole had recently moved back to Appleton, Wisconsin, to live with his 
best friend.
  In January of 2024, Cole went to the pharmacy to refill his steroid 
medication for his asthma, a medication he had taken for years.
  A big 3 pharmacy benefit manager had increased the price of Cole's 
daily asthma medication from around $35 to over $500. He was told that 
no generic drug would be covered by his insurance, and Cole was forced 
to choose between his medication and his rent. He chose to pay his 
rent.
  Five days later, Cole suffered a severe asthma attack that led to 
cardiac arrest. On January 21, 2024, Cole passed away.
  These pharmacy benefit managers are the middlemen of drug pricing. 
They are owned by Fortune 20 health insurance companies and are working 
for profit, not patients.
  PBMs claim to negotiate on behalf of employers and patients to lower 
drug costs, but the Federal Trade Commission's July investigation into 
PBM price gouging abuses showed the facts.
  PBMs mark up the cost of drugs by thousands of percent above their 
acquisition cost and have captured $300 billion from the U.S. 
healthcare system. They have invested none of that into research and 
development for new drugs.
  PBMs influence what prescription drugs are available and what they 
cost by mandating patients receive expensive, brand-name drugs when 
cheaper, generic drugs are prescribed and are readily available.
  Now their greed is on full display.
  At the July House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing, I 
questioned big 3 PBM executives about these markups. I asked CVS 
Caremark President David Joyner, now CEO of CVS Health, why he was 
charging $6,229 for a $16 multiple sclerosis drug. This is a 38,000 
percent markup for lifesaving

[[Page H6301]]

medication. He had no real answer to my questions.
  It doesn't stop there. These exorbitant markups extend to drugs for 
leukemia, prostate cancer, kidney disease, and more.
  At this hearing, I unveiled H.R. 9096, the bipartisan Pharmacists 
Fight Back Act with Diana Harshbarger, a pharmacist. Pharmacists Fight 
Back will stop the most nefarious of PBM price gouging abuses.
  PFB is the most muscular reform ever introduced at the Federal level. 
It will implement a transparent pharmacy reimbursement model using 
market-based pricing benchmarked to the national average drug 
acquisition cost. It will end patient exploitation in Federal 
healthcare plans and impose criminal violations for such behavior. No 
family should suffer the loss of a child from PBM greed.

  Ahead of Thanksgiving, we reached our goal of 50 cosponsors to 
Pharmacists Fight Back, 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats. This is not a 
partisan issue.
  Cole had his whole life ahead of him. Because Cole was forced to 
choose between paying his rent or shelling out hundreds of dollars to 
cover his medication out of pocket for a drug that did not need to be 
that expensive, his family is without their loved one. There is no 
justification for a family facing Thanksgiving without their child. 
Cole's death was preventable.
  Since Cole's passing, Bil and Shanon, who are here today, have fought 
tirelessly for PBM reform. I am grateful for their presence today and 
that they have chosen to tell their story so no other parents 
experience this pain.
  Cole's parents said that Cole walked his own path in life. He was 
known by his loved ones to have deep care and compassion for those whom 
he encountered.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my fellow Members to protect patients like 
Cole and his family and to sponsor H.R. 9096, the Pharmacists Fight 
Back Act. In honor of Cole Schmidtknecht, we will carry forward the 
fight to end the price gouging abuses of pharmacy benefit managers.

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