In Review: HB4548 was held last week. PCMA Counsel, along with the Illinois Health & Life Association and a member representative, met with Chair Natalie Manley (D). The Pharmacists and PhRMA have clearly been in to see her. She does want to understand all the issues since she is new to these issues and does not plan to move the bill immediately as she gathers more information. Several messages did resonate with Chair Manley, including unions that did not like the bill, and they did not include Medicaid.

Up Next: Illinois Families for Affordable Health Care, a new branded coalition, will be engaging in a digital campaign in opposition to HB4548. You can review the draft website at: https://rtupps4.wixsite.com/illinoisfamilies. The ads are designed to drive traffic to the landing page where constituents can send emails directly to their legislator. The Governor’s bill, HB5395, will have a subject matter hearing on March 13. We are working on some high-level step therapy key message points. We will continue working with the Illinois Health & Life Association on messaging. In addition, the following bills will also have hearings this week: HB2472 – the adverse determination bill; HB4472 – the PDAB bill; HB5051 – the no PA on certain drugs for 6 months or more bill; SB2572 – Infertility and GPL1 mandate; and SB3732 – the a limited PA bill.

If you have any questions, please contact Melodie Shrader at mshrader@pcmanet.org.