Idaho Department of Insurance reports PBM compliance work, describes wildfire insurance pressures and 1332 waiver benefits

The Idaho Department of Insurance told the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee on Jan. 21 that it is actively implementing last year’s pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform, collecting required PBM data and handling numerous consumer complaints while continuing work on a high‑risk reinsurance pool and a state 1332 waiver that leaders said has helped reduce individual health insurance rates.

Director Dean Cameron told the committee the agency hired staff last year to oversee PBM compliance and had received data submissions from most PBMs in the format required by statute, although a few PBMs had not yet submitted and the department was working to obtain that data. He said complaints to the department span issues from disputed dispensing fees to contractual disputes and nonresponsiveness by PBMs, and he promised a fuller report to the committee as data collection proceeds.

"She's receiving numerous complaints," Cameron said of the new staff analyst; "we're in the process of collecting data from PBMs. They were submitted a required format by which they would be submitting data to us. Most have complied and have submitted their data. And, there are a few that have not." Cameron told the committee the department is also using the PBM data to support statutorily required determinations of dispensing fees.

Republican Representative Furness asked Cameron to…