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Committee advances pharmacy‑pricing transparency bill after hours of testimony over PBM practices and fiscal shift
Summary
The committee passed HB 527 (third substitute), a pharmacy‑pricing transparency measure that requires PBMs to provide appeals contact details and price data to pharmacies and gives the insurance commissioner enforcement authority; PBMs and union and pharmacy representatives sharply debated whether the bill improperly shifts costs to state employees and how appeals data should be handled.
Representative Hall told the committee HB 527 (third substitute) responds to concerns from independent pharmacies that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) sometimes deny appeals and do not provide sufficient price‑source information to justify reimbursement ceilings. The substitute adds transparency requirements: a contact phone number, email and website for appeals; provision of PBM price lists or cost sources used to set maximum allowable cost (MAC) lists; and an enforcement role for the state insurance commissioner.
Sheldon Birch, owner of multiple independent pharmacies, told the committee that a sample data set of roughly…
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