Bottom Line: PhRMA adds lobbying firepower for PBM reform fight

Prescription drugs

YC Consulting registered to lobby on prescription drug pricing and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transparency and reform on behalf of the influential trade association ​Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). PhRMA has lobbied for legislation intended to make PBMs more transparent and flooded TV, radio and other media with ads blaming PBMs for high prescription drug prices. 

The lobbyist on the account is Yong Choe. From 2011 to 2013, Choe was the director of business outreach and member services for the Republican Study Committee later chaired by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). He has led federal affairs efforts for Rite Aid and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The new hire adds to PhRMA’s already sprawling lobbying operation. PhRMA spent more than $21 million on federal lobbying during the first nine months of 2023, twice as much as the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a PBM trade group, spent through the same period, making it the fourth biggest federal lobbying spender of 2023, according to OpenSecrets.

Automobiles

Tesla hired Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to lobby on issues related to autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence. Tesla has been a leader in self-driving cars, but last month, the automaker had to recall more than 2 million electric vehicles sold in the U.S. after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found its Autopilot system was defective and needed to be fixed. Geoffrey Burr, former chief of staff at the Department of Transportation, will work on the account.

Banking

The National Association of Federal Equity Receivers hired Moran Global Strategies to lobby on opportunities to improve tax refund and liability determinations processes related to Federal Receivership cases. The lobbyist on the account is former Democratic Rep. James Moran, who represented Virginia’s 8th congressional district from 1991 to 2015.

Health

Sight Science hired Patel Partners to lobby on invasive and non-invasive eye diseases issues. Neal Patel, a Trump White House Office of Management and Budget alum and former senior staffer on Capitol Hill, will work on the account.

Technology

Roku hired Tidal Basin Advisors to lobby on issues related to competition in digital marketplaces and the streaming industry. The lobbyist on the account is Jesse McCollum, who was previously chief of staff to former Rep. Ron Klein (R-Fla.) and a senior advisor to the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.