The Massachusetts Senate accepted and passed the conference committee report on the pharmaceutical access, cost and transparency package known in the chamber as the PACT Act (S.3012) and its companion market‑oversight measure (H.5159), voting by voice to send both bills to be signed by the president and laid before the governor for approbation.

Senator Cindy F. Friedman (4th Middlesex), who presented the conference committee report, said the package is the "first step" toward curbing the rising cost of critical medicines and increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmaceutical firms. Friedman said the bill brings pharmaceuticals and PBMs into CHIA/HPC cost‑trend hearings, requires public testimony from those entities, and directs the Division of Insurance (DOI) to consider affordability when reviewing rates. "It puts pharmaceuticals and PBMs under the cost trend hearing umbrella," she said during her explanation to the chamber.

Key provisions described on the floor include: requiring CHIA/HPC to request and, in some cases, require information from pharmaceutical companies and PBMs during annual cost‑trend hearings; requiring public testimony from pharmaceutical companies, PBMs and certain private‑equity investors; instructing DOI to include affordability as a factor in rate reviews; establishing a primary‑care task force; and creating an office within HPC to monitor pharmaceutical spending. The bill also includes a targeted cost‑sharing change Friedman said would apply to certain "public essential drugs," including insulin and common asthma and cardiac medications: a 0% co‑pay for some generics and a $25 co‑pay for selected brand drugs. She said that change would affect roughly "about 180,000 people," a figure she described as based on prior analysis.

The floor exchange also highlighted differing views on the role of private equity. Friedman and supporters argued for expanded oversight and investigatory tools, including broader False Claims Act coverage to reach private equity owners and stronger documentary and testimony powers for regulators. "There is no room for private equity in the delivery of health care," Friedman said on the floor. A member identified in the transcript as the senator from First Essex and Middlesex (later referenced in the record as Senator Tarr) supported the bill’s broad aims but cautioned against a blanket exclusion of private equity, saying some investor models help smaller provider groups acquire necessary resources. He also urged future action on pharmacist scope and compensation and removal of a sunset on prescription coupons.

The Senate moved quickly on the measures. Senator Friedman moved to suspend the rules and consider the conference committee report forthwith; the rules were suspended and, by voice votes recorded as "the ayes have it," the chamber accepted the conference committee report and later took a single vote to pass the related civil matters to be enacted. The transcript records those tallies as voice votes rather than a roll‑call; no roll‑call tallies were read on the record in the transcript provided.

What happens next: both bills were passed to be enacted and will be signed by the Senate president and transmitted to the governor for consideration. The bill’s provisions that require testimony and new reporting by CHIA/HPC and DOI will depend on those agencies’ rule‑making and enforcement processes once the measures are enacted and, where applicable, funded.

Questions and limits: supporters said the package is a starting point rather than a final solution and several senators voiced interest in additional steps on pharmacist reimbursement, stronger enforcement penalties, and eliminating the coupon sunset in a future session. The transcript notes technical and process objections from some members about considering a complex package during an informal session rather than in a formal session with recorded roll‑call votes.

The acceptance and passage of S.3012 and H.5159 mark a notable move by the Legislature to expand transparency and oversight across pharmaceutical supply chains, PBMs and significant equity investors, while leaving follow‑up details—penalties, implementing rules, and additional coverage issues—for future work.