WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration today finalized a landmark rule that will require pharmacy benefit managers and their affiliated brokers and consultants to disclose their fees and compensation to large employers’ self-insured group health plans. In finalizing this rule, the Department has ensured that employers can see how much drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and others pay pharmacy benefit managers for the first time. Employers can use that information to negotiate contracts and seek lower prescription drug costs for workers and their families. “This is a win for every American worker who has ever paid too much at the pharmacy counter,” said Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “For years, PBMs have operated in the shadows, pocketing hidden fees while workers and employers were left in the dark. Today, President Trump is delivering the transparency Americans deserve – and putting American workers first.” “More transparency means more competition, and more competition means lower health care costs,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “Today’s new rule represents a significant step forward in this Administration’s all-of-government effort to take the guesswork out of shopping for health care – an effort in which Labor, CMS, and numerous other agencies and departments all have important roles to play.”The final rule implements the bipartisan transparency reforms Congress enacted earlier this year as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026. It also fulfills a key goal of President Trump’s executive order, “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,” which directed federal agencies to make the prescription drug market fairer and more accountable while lowering health care costs. Pharmacy benefit managers are intermediaries in the prescription drug supply chain for employer-sponsored self-insured group health plans that cover approximately 90 million Americans, but health plan fiduciaries often cannot get a full picture of the compensation PBMs and their affiliates receive from drug manufacturers, pharmacies, and others.The final rule is projected to lower prescription drug costs for health plans and participants by as much as $22 billion (undiscounted) over 10 years. The final rule also provides important compliance-assistance information for all service providers to employer-sponsored group health plans, which are now required to report fees and compensation to group health plan fiduciaries following the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026. “The rule gives employers the tools they’ve been denied for far too long,” said Assistant Secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration Daniel Aronowitz. “When employers can finally see what PBMs are really being paid, they can negotiate harder, cut out the waste, and pass real savings on to their workers.” The final rule requires PBMs to make disclosures to plan fiduciaries that will allow them to assess the reasonableness of compensation for the services and to fulfill their duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Issued under ERISA’s statutory service provider prohibited transaction exemption, the final rule requires PBMs to disclose the following information for the first time:Rebates and other payments from drug manufacturers.Compensation received when the price paid by the plan for a prescription drug exceeds the amount reimbursed to the pharmacy. Payments recouped from pharmacies in connection with prescription drugs dispensed to plan participants.   The final rule also allows plan fiduciaries to audit the accuracy of PBM disclosures and provides additional relief for plan fiduciaries if a PBM fails to meet its obligations.Employers and workers can contact EBSA at askebsa.dol.gov or call 866-444-3272 toll-free for help with private sector job-based retirement and health plans. Read the notice of the final rule on pharmacy benefit manager disclosures.