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Committee reviews dozens of pharmacy bills; positions range from support to watch
Summary
At its June 11 meeting the committee reviewed a broad slate of pharmacy-related bills — from PBM transparency and pharmacist reimbursement to biogenerics and AI in healthcare — generally reaffirming prior positions and asking staff for technical amendments and follow-up.
The Legislation & Regulation Committee on June 11 reviewed a wide set of bills affecting pharmacy practice, continuing prior board positions in most cases and asking staff to pursue technical clarifications where appropriate.
Chair Jesse Crowley opened the session with legislative calendar reminders and then led item-by-item summaries. The committee generally retained prior support positions on measures including AB 910 (pharmacy benefit manager reporting), AB 957 (prohibiting cigarettes/tobacco sales in pharmacies), AB 1773 (PBM public disclosures), AB 1775 (expedited licensing for certain service members), AB 1778 (automatic federal-to-state schedule harmonization for testosterone when less restrictive), AB 1811 (Health Professional Shortage Area definitions), AB 1854 (protections for legally protected health activities), and AB 2565 (DHCS guidance clarifying coverage of pharmacist services). For new measures or those with recent amendments the committee frequently opted to "watch" pending further information (for example AB 1587 on emergency refills and AB 1990 was discussed separately at length).
On pharmacist reimbursement, public commenters and sponsors urged continued board support for AB 2571 and related measures that would expand reimbursement authority for pharmacist services and advanced practice pharmacist practitioners; commenters also flagged operational issues such as credentialing and double-licensing burdens for system-employed pharmacists.
SB 1094 (biosimilar substitution) and SB 1199 (counting manufacturer assistance toward patient out-of-pocket maximums) prompted discussion of contract and formulary impacts; speakers noted potential unintended consequences for inventory and purchasing contracts. Committee members generally asked staff to track these bills and to propose technical amendments where statutory cross-references to pharmacy licensing or procurement authority were unclear.
On AB 1587 (emergency refills), commenter Stephen Gray urged support to clarify longstanding authority under section 4064 so pharmacists can provide noncontrolled emergency refills when prescribers are unreachable; members asked staff to develop operational guidance and recommended communications/FAQ resources to help pharmacists safely use the authority.
Most agenda items led to requests for staff follow-up rather than immediate position changes; the committee reserved final action for the full board where appropriate.
