FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | July 31, 2026
Contact: Joe Edelen (302) 743-7013
DOVER – Following the release of the State Employee Benefits Committee’s (SEBC) report on pharmaceutical pricing reform, Senator Ray Seigfried released the following statement:
“The goal of SJR 7 was clear: Take meaningful action by implementing reforms that lower prescription drug costs during negotiations with the third-party Pharmacy Benefit Managers that administer the State’s health plans. And, to do so transparently and effectively.
Instead, we received a blueprint for bureaucratic inertia and a justification to maintain the status quo when it comes to pharmacy contracting and lowering costs.
The report points to procurement rules, legal constraints, and market realities as barriers to implement the breadth of reforms outlined in SJR 7. But those same challenges exist in states that have successfully increased transparency, strengthened oversight, and reduced prescription drug costs. The question isn’t whether reform is easy – it’s whether we are willing to pursue it, and how aggressively.
To me, this report lacks a vision for overhauling our broken system in a way that will benefit our State employees. Rather than challenging a model that depends on hidden rebates, it accepts the reality that – for the time being – Delaware’s only options are to raise premiums, increase cost-sharing, or reduce benefits.
For thousands of Delaware families, rising healthcare costs aren’t just an abstract budget issue. Every premium increase, higher deductible, or larger co-pay means less money for groceries, childcare, mortgages, and retirement.
Delaware should address the hidden costs built into the healthcare supply chain before asking workers and retirees to foot the bill.
Legacy Pharmacy Benefit Managers are like used-car dealers who refuse to show the invoice. You never know what the product actually costs, hidden rebates are collected behind the scenes, and taxpayers end up paying the difference. Delaware needs to stop paying retail for wholesale healthcare.
If Delaware can save tens of millions of dollars simply by changing how we purchase prescription drugs, imagine what becomes possible when we apply those same principles of transparency, competition, and accountability across our entire healthcare plan.
In 2027, my top priorities will be to require greater transparency, increase competition in pharmacy contracting, and eliminate hidden pricing practices that increase costs for the State’s Group Health Insurance Plan.
Delaware taxpayers deserve lawmakers who will ask hard questions, challenge the status quo, and insist on getting value for every public dollar we spend.
I didn’t come to the General Assembly to maintain rising healthcare costs. I came to lower them. Other states have already shown these reforms can work, and I will continue fighting for every taxpayer dollar and every state employee who depends on our health plan.”
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