Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pharmacy Pbm topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves bill letting pharmacists sue PBMs for damages after below-market transactions
Summary
The Judiciary Committee passed SB 583 as amended. Sponsor Sen. Clark Tucker said the bill allows pharmacists to recover out-of-pocket damages when pharmacy benefit managers violate existing law; the committee adopted an amendment adding a House sponsor and technical fixes.
Sen. Clark Tucker presented SB 583 as amended to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the committee voted to advance the measure.
Tucker said the current law allows the Insurance Department to pursue PBMs that sell drugs to pharmacies below market value and to fine PBMs for violations, but pharmacists themselves have no private right to recover losses. "The issue is that under the current law, the pharmacist is really the one that suffers the harm," Tucker said. He described the bill as a parallel remedy that would let pharmacists recover actual damages they suffered when a PBM violated the law.
The amendment Tucker offered added Representative Moore as a House sponsor and incorporated a concern raised by the University of Arkansas system. A committee question noted an engrossing edit related to a previously stated $10,000 per-violation figure; Tucker said that change was a drafting/engrossing issue and that the bill retains the intended penalty structure.
No members of the public spoke for or against the bill. After brief questions Tucker closed and moved passage. The chair called the voice vote, the ayes were recorded and the chair said "Motion carried. Congratulations, Senator Tucker. You passed your bill." The committee adopted the bill as amended and advanced it for further consideration.
