In Review: The Minnesota legislative session does not begin until February 12. However, last week, we obtained a draft copy of a prior authorization bill, which was a month old. This issue was heavily negotiated in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, but the proponents are back again. Based on the language we obtained, the bill includes gold carding, has prohibitions on prior authorization, including for generic or multisource brand drugs that are therapeutically equivalent or interchangeable biosimilars, continuity of care provision for those with a chronic condition, and a prescriptive automated process for prior authorizations, among numerous other issues. Last Thursday, PCMA met with Representative Steve Elkins (DFL), who has several bills and bill ideas (i.e., POS rebates, Frozen Formulary, Formulary, etc.), and given he was short on time and had computer issues, we will be meeting with him again prior to the start of session.

Up Next: PCMA and its members will be having our in-person planning meeting this Friday in St. Paul to discuss and plan for the upcoming legislative session.

If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Mack at mmack@pcmanet.org.