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Staff asks whether pharmacies should pay for opioid warning labels that the state now supplies
Summary
A staff briefing flagged an ongoing $14,700 annual general-fund appropriation used to produce opioid warning labels and pamphlets for pharmacies; staff suggested the legislature could consider shifting that cost to pharmacies or manufacturers and noted such a change would require a bill file.
Legislative staff told the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee that the state currently spends $14,700 annually to produce warning labels and pamphlets required by a 2018 law directing opioid abuse prevention and treatment information to be distributed by pharmacies.
Staff said the 2018 statute originally funded the production and distribution of 111,000 warning labels and pamphlets to more than 550 pharmacies statewide at an ongoing cost of $14,700 beginning in fiscal 2019. The analyst asked the committee whether the state should continue paying that amount or whether statute could be changed to shift the printing and distribution cost to pharmacies or to drug manufacturers; the change would require opening a bill file to amend statute.
Representative Peck later moved to open a committee bill file to shift the cost to pharmacies; staff and the chair explained the appropriations committee may not open committee bill files and that an individual legislator or a standing committee with legislative authority would need to open such a file. There was no committee vote to change statute during the meeting.
Why it matters: redirecting the $14,700 ongoing cost would reduce the state general-fund obligation for a small, ongoing printing and distribution expense; doing so would require statutory change and would shift the expense to private entities or pharmacists.
