Oregon committee hears proposal to centralize drug purchasing under new state office

An Oregon House committee on Thursday heard testimony on House Bill 3,613, a proposal to create an Office of Pharmaceutical Purchasing (OPP) to centralize state and state‑supported entities' prescription drug purchasing and expand participation in the multistate cooperative ArrayRx.

Representative Travis Nelson introduced the concept and asked stakeholders to explain how a centralized model could reduce costs and boost pharmacy access. “Creates the office of pharmaceutical purchasing OPP within the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to support multi agency and multi state collaborative purchasing of pharmaceuticals, drive down the cost of prescription drugs for residents of the state and manage the Oregon prescription drug program,” Charlie Swanson read from the bill catchline during his presentation.

The bill, presenters and committee members said, would build on ArrayRx — a multistate procurement cooperative that Oregon helped found — and would permit or require state‑supported purchasers to participate in consolidated purchasing. Witnesses cited Ohio’s single pharmacy benefit manager (SPBM) model, launched in 2022, as an example of large‑scale change. Rep. Nelson highlighted an Ohio Department of Medicaid analysis that, according to testimony, reported…