Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care   The Big Story PBM reform push heats up Congress is facing pressure from outside groups to consider legislation to reform the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry during the lame duck period.© AP PBM reforms have bipartisan backing, and the lame duck session between the election and the end of the year is one of the final opportunities to take advantage and pass legislation to rein in the middlemen of the prescription drug supply chain.   A full suite of new ads — part of a seven-figure campaign from PhRMA that includes national news outlets and digital and social media channels — urges lawmakers to make sure savings from PBMs go directly to patients.    Drugmakers argue PBMs are the reason prescription drugs are so expensive. PBMs negotiate the terms and conditions for access to prescription drugs for hundreds of millions of Americans. They are responsible for negotiating prices with drug companies, paying pharmacies and determining which drugs patients can access and how much they cost.      Legislation aimed at PBM practices passed the House and a Senate committee last year but failed to be included as part of a spending deal in March.    And it’s not just the drug industry. Another ad campaign launched Tuesday by the National Association of Manufacturers calls on Congress to “institute comprehensive PBM reform that increases transparency into these underregulated actors and limits their outsized control over the prices patients pay at the pharmacy counter.”   Nearly 100 health care and consumer advocacy organizations also signed a letter Tuesday to congressional leadership calling for “strong pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transparency and accountability reforms.”   Among the groups that signed the letter were the American Kidney Fund, American Liver Foundation, Biosimilars Council, HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute and the National Consumers League.   “To date, seven committees of jurisdiction across both chambers have voted overwhelmingly in favor of PBM transparency and reforms (in some instances voting unanimously or nearly unanimously to advance these policies),” the letter stated.   “Now is the time to enact real and lasting change. Congress must not squander the opportunity for real change impacting real lives and must enact these reforms this year.”   Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.  Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:  Abortion opponents unveil strategy to undermine state protectionsAnti-abortion groups are plotting an aggressive post-election strategy to undo federal and state protections for abortion, including ballot measures passed in the past two years after the end of Roe v. Wade.  The strategy outlined in Students for Life’s “Make America Pro-Life Again Roadmap” includes filing lawsuits challenging the federal regulation of the abortion pill and pushing for the passage of …  Full Story  Kentucky woman seeking abortion sues state over near-total banA Kentucky woman who wants an abortion filed a lawsuit Tuesday to strike down the state’s near-total ban.  The lawsuit alleges the woman, referred to as Mary Poe, is about seven weeks pregnant and is suffering severe harms because the government has denied her access to the care she needs.   The complaint, filed in a state circuit court, seeks to strike down Kentucky’s two abortion laws as unconstitutional under …  Full Story  Syphilis cases see first substantial decline in 20 years: Federal data Though the rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high in the U.S., the spread of syphilis appears to be slowing, according to new federal data showing that cases grew by 1 percent in 2023 following years of double-digit increases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were more than 2.4 million STIs reported in 2023. Since 2004, the number of reported STIs in the U.S. has …  Full Story   In Other News Branch out with a different read: Excessive drinking inches higher after pandemic increase: Research Excessive drinking continued increasing in 2022, after rising during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study that was released on Tuesday.  The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that heavy alcohol use from 2018 to 2020 jumped by 20 percent, and then increased another 4 percent from 2020 to 2022. The spike in drinking alcohol was seen in all regions of the U.S., races and genders, … Full Story   Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: Harmful chemicals removed from thermal receipts in Washington (Nonstop Local News)  New Jersey wildfires are under control. But health effects from wildfire smoke can still linger (The Philadelphia Inquirer)   Sacramento-area care facilities fined $860K for wage theft (ABC10)  What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: There are millions of sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. every year, but the epidemic may be slowing (CNN)  FDA commissioner suggests RFK Jr. And Trump might compromise an agency ‘at peak performance’ (STAT)  U.S. regulators seek to block UnitedHealth’s $3.3 billion purchase of home care company (The New York Times)   What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Republicans win House, delivering Trump a trifecta Republicans are projected to keep control of the House of Representatives, handing the party total control of Washington with President-elect Trump … Read more Trump Cabinet picks: Here’s who’s on the list to carry out his agenda President-elect Trump is assembling his Cabinet and senior staff for his second term in the White House before taking office in January. Trump must … Read more What People Think Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill: Can RFK Jr. put an end to the revolving door between government and industry?  You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Health Care newsletter Subscribe