Congressman Tim Moore visits Morganton

Congressman Tim Moore stopped in Morganton on Thursday afternoon on his tour of businesses in Burke and Gaston counties to get a firsthand glimpse at how the One Big Beautiful Bill has affected the economy in the region.

His Thursday tour included Table Rock Pharmacy and Compounding around noon and Gerresheimer at 1:15 p.m. in Morganton, then Premix USA Manufacturing in Dallas at about 4 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Moore represents North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District and previously served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives for about 10 years.

GERRESHEIMER

Gerresheimer, a German-based glass manufacturing company that established its Morganton location about 30 years ago, hosted Moore and shared information on the company’s recovery from COVID-19 and Hurricane Helene.

When Hurricane Helene hit, the Morganton factory flooded with up to 4 feet of water, which damaged some of its equipment, said Plant Manager Alejandro Pinon. Despite that, the company was able to resume some operations within four weeks.

“What we did with the OBBB (One Big Beautiful Bill) is to expand some of the tax credits that will help businesses in terms, for example, of being able to invest in new equipment and new machinery, which in turn increases jobs,” Moore said. “We also, by allowing the personal income taxes to remain low, are going to allow people who work in manufacturing or anywhere else, for that matter, to keep more of their money.”

The congressman said passing the bill also meant no tax on overtime hours. Gerresheimer in Morganton is a location that operates 24-7, Moore said, which makes that part of the bill beneficial for employees of the manufacturer.

“So that’s going to be an incentive and … it’s not going to result in more money for business, it’s going to result in more money for those people coming in, those folks living right here in Burke County,” Moore said.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law on July 4 after months of hot debate in Congress. It is a budget reconciliation law that touched many of the nation’s policies regarding taxes, border security, Medicaid, SNAP, and more.

TABLE ROCK PHARMACY

During his Thursday visit to Table Rock Pharmacy and Compounding in Morganton, Moore agreed to co-sponsor H.R. 4317, the “PBM Reform Act of 2025,” a federal bill aimed at overhauling the way pharmacy benefit managers operate.

The commitment came after a tour led by owners Jessi and Michael Stout, who showed Moore how their independent pharmacy serves the community through custom-compounding medications and home deliveries — services, Jessi emphasized, not offered by large chains.

The Stouts also walked Moore through documentation of what they described as “egregious” PBM practices, including spread pricing, where PBMs charge insurers far more than they reimburse pharmacies, and below-cost payments that force independents to lose money on certain prescriptions.

They shared examples of patients being steered to PBM-owned pharmacies, sometimes at the expense of timely or safe access to medications.

Jessi Stout said she was “thrilled” that Moore agreed to join the bill. “My goal was to get him to co-sponsor the PBM Reform Act, so I was thrilled he agreed before even leaving the store,” she said. “It was helpful he was familiar with PBM practices and is an advocate for reform, but I think it’s really helpful for him to see our store and all the services we offer and then to have actual examples presented to him of the egregious PBM practices we see every day.”

“You don’t have to worry about lobbying, I’m fully supportive of PBM reform,” Moore said. “PBMs have taken the crumbs and all from small pharmacies.”

Moore also told the Stouts he supports federal legislation to ban spread pricing, increase transparency, and limit vertical integration between PBMs and their own pharmacies.

“We’ve got to get this done,” he said, adding that as H.R. 4317 makes progress in Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services is also exploring administrative action to curtail PBMs nationwide.