PBM Reform Bill (sans pharmacy tax) clears Senate

It turns out you don’t need to increase prescription fees by 1000 percent to bring transparency to the pharmaceutical supply chain or help independent pharmacists.

The NC Senate, by unanimous bipartisan vote of 45-0, passed a sweeping reform bill that will put money back in the pockets of consumers, increase transparency into PBMs and PSAOs, and provide much needed support for rural independent pharmacists.

Importantly, unlike House Bill 163, the SCRIPT Act does not include a pharmacy tax provision that will increase consumer costs by more than $10 on every prescription filled, or other anti-business and anti-consumer provisions.

Here is what the SCRIPT Act does:

• It allows pharmacies in pharmacy deserts to be reimbursed at higher amounts. Without this legislation, if you wanted to reimburse small or independent pharmacies more, you would have to provide those same increased amounts to national chain pharmacies.
• It increases transparency into PSAOs, PBMs, and pharmaceutical manufacturer pricing.  
• It prohibits PSAOs from requiring independent pharmacies to purchase more expensive drugs from certain wholesalers who may have a financial interest in the PSAO.
• It allows independent pharmacies to decline to fill a prescription if they would take a loss, so long as the delay would not cause harm to the patient and the pharmacy directs consumers to where they can obtain the drug.
• It requires that consumers receive prescription drug rebates at the point-of-sale.

For years, we have heard about the struggles of independent pharmacies in North Carolina. Finally, legislation has passed that will help them without increasing prescription costs for patients.

Not only that, but the bill also makes sure consumers receive any available discounts on their medicine, takes a holistic approach to transparency, and targets pharmacy deserts to help with access to care.  

If this bill passes into law, no state in the country will have greater transparency into the prescription drug supply chain, or have more consumer-friendly policies to support independent pharmacies, than North Carolina.

The bill now goes to the NC House for consideration.