Prescription Drugs - Medicine & Money
The truth about prescription drug costs.
[click here]Legislation
States
State legislatures increasingly are addressing issues relating to pharmacy benefit managers.
Maine is the first state to successfully pass legislation regulating pharmacy benefit managers. Of course, PBMs challenged the legislation all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The State of Maine persevered. Many other states also have or are in the process of passing laws to regulate companies that manage and negotiate pharmacy benefits on behalf of states, corporations, health plans. The National Legislation of Drug Plans keeps track of these efforts.
Check here to see the status of legislation in your state. If you don't see your state in this list, or you want to show support for pending legislation, contact your state legislators. The best way to reach them is by phone or email. Click here to find your legislator.
Here's a partial list of issues to be addressed in legislation:
- Full disclosure of prices the PBM pays pharmaceutical manufacturers.
- Auditing rights
- Mail order parity
Federal
The Community Pharmacy Fairness Act was introduced Feb. 9 in the U.S. House. In an effort to allow independent pharmacies to better negotiate on behalf of their patients, Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced legislation Friday that would help level the playing field between the nation's community pharmacists and the multi-billion dollar corporations that administer the prescription drug plans in this country.
H.R.971, the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2007, would create a narrow exemption to current antitrust law that would allow community pharmacists to negotiate contracts with Medicare Part D plans and giant pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the companies that operate as drug middlemen to administer the prescription drug benefit portion of health insurance plans. [MORE]