In Review: Last week, the House Health Committee took up SB 479 (decline to fill, point-of-sale rebates, fiduciary, affiliate pharmacy parity, transparency) and approved a proposed committee substitute. The Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) removed the Senate’s language around pharmacy desert, decline to fill, and the acquisition cost provisions, added in limitations on requiring multiple specialty pharmacy accreditations, a spread pricing ban, and a requirement to pay pharmacies at NADAC plus a professional dispensing fee, which is not defined in statute. Expectedly, the Senate rejected the House’s version of the bill, which will now head to a conference committee. The Senate has designated Senators Benton Sawrey (R), Danny Britt (R), and Bill Rabon (R) as conferees. The House will name its conferees tomorrow. While no timeline has been set, the conference committee could meet as soon as tomorrow.

Up Next: In preparation for a conference committee, PCMA is preparing a redline of the current draft of SB 479 as amended in the House to share with Senate staff and Chairman Sawrey identifying the industry’s priorities in the new version of the bill, which largely remain the same. PCMA will also be arming Senate staff and conferees with additional information relative to previous versions of the House bill and other issues that may come up in negotiations.

If you have any questions, please contact Connor Rose at crose@pcmanet.org.