Senate Pharmacy Benefits Managers and Consumer Access to Prescription Medications Study Committee; create
Impact
The formation of this committee seeks to address the significant concerns regarding PBMs and their effect on not just consumer pricing but also the viability of independent pharmacies across Georgia. The resolution mentions a serious decline in the number of counties without any pharmacy access, hinting at a potential healthcare access crisis. The committee will analyze the existing issues, consumer needs, and the legislative measures needed to manage the practices of PBMs effectively, thus seeking to improve the situation for consumers and local pharmacies alike.
Summary
Senate Resolution 927 aims to establish a Senate Study Committee focused on the practices of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) and their impact on consumer access to prescription medications. The resolution outlines the complexities of prescription drug pricing, noting that prices have increased at a rate surpassing inflation since 2016. It highlights the troubling practices of PBMs, such as steering patients to their affiliate pharmacies and excessive markups on medication prices, particularly for treatments critical for conditions such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. This resolution serves as a response to ongoing concerns raised by industry stakeholders regarding the influence and practices of PBMs.
Contention
There may be varying views on the effectiveness and necessity of establishing such a committee. Proponents argue that a focused study is essential to uncover and address the exploitative practices of PBMs effectively, ensuring fair medication access for consumers. Conversely, there may be skepticism regarding how much regulation can feasibly be introduced without overstepping into operational complexities that could impact business pragmatics within the pharmaceutical industry. The implications of the committee's findings could lead to significant changes in how pharmacy benefits are managed in Georgia, highlighting the need for a balance between regulation and market functionality.
Requesting The Administrator Of The State Health Planning And Development Agency To Convene A Pharmacy Benefit Manager Working Group To Determine The Best Policies To Reform Pharmacy Benefit Manager Practices In The State To Ensure Transparency And Fairness For Consumers And In The Pharmaceutical Sector, Lower Drug Costs For Patient Consumers, And Increase Access To Health Care.
Enacting the Kansas consumer prescription protection and accountability act and providing for regulation and registration of pharmacy benefits managers.
Enacting the Kansas consumer prescription protection and accountability act and providing for regulation and registration of pharmacy benefits managers.
Establishing the remote practice of pharmacy, requiring certain conditions for such practice and limiting activities performed under such practice, permitting a pharmacist to initiate therapy for certain conditions consistent with the pharmacist's education, training and experience, adding pharmacists who initiate such therapy to the healthcare stabilization fund and allowing a pharmacist to dispense a one-time emergency refill of a noncontrolled prescription drug for up to a 90-day supply when no refills remain, adopting compounding standards established by the United States pharmacopeia and allowing for exemptions from such standards and removing the authority of the state board of pharmacy to authorize individuals to access the prescription monitoring program database by rules and regulations.