In Review: Last week, the PBM bills were not called by the Committee chairs as scheduled and planned. Later that evening, PCMA counsel was contacted by the Governor’s office to schedule a meeting to go over PCMA’s concerns with the bill. That meeting took place on Sunday, March 23. First, the Governor’s office and the Department of Insurance (DOI) indicated that they made a unilateral modification to the bill, which bans spread pricing (previous legislative language did not capture a full spread ban). The legislative vehicle will now be SB 1390. In the 45-minute meeting, we only got through half of PCMA’s concerns and are working to schedule additional time. The takeaway from the meeting is the Governor’s office and DOI are largely rejecting PCMA’s suggested changes.

Up Next: The Senate and House’s Third Reading Deadline (first chamber) is April 11. The bill must pass one of the houses before then.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean Stephenson at sstephenson@pcmanet.org.