House Health Committee moves to amend H.266, replacing white‑bagging language with hospital drug‑pricing limits and 340B reporting changes

The House Committee on Health Care advanced a proposed amendment to H.266 that would remove the Senate's white‑bagging provisions and replace them with a set of hospital outpatient prescription‑drug reimbursement limits and reporting changes, committee members heard.

Legislative counsel Jenn Carby of the Office of Legislative Council presented the draft amendment, saying it incorporates prior committee changes and highlights new language. "I left the effective date pieces just because I think they're important, and I want to remember to put them in the actual bill. But I have incorporated all of the changes we looked at yesterday, and then, everything new today is, highlighted," Carby said.

The nut graf: The amendment would (1) set percentage limits on what hospitals may submit to health insurers for reimbursement of prescription drugs administered in outpatient or office settings, using the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Average Sales Price (ASP) as the reference; (2) create a temporary transitional percentage for an initial period; (3) exempt independent critical access hospitals that are not affiliated with another hospital or hospital network; and (4) change hospital reporting on participation in the federal 340B drug pricing program, including confidential vendor information to be provided to the Green Mountain Care Board and a reporting sunset provision.

Under the draft language shown to the committee, hospitals "shall not submit a claim to a health insurer for reimbursement of a prescription drug administered in an outpatient or office setting in an amount that exceeds" a percentage of the ASP as calculated by…