In Review: On February 22, the State Assembly added Assembly Amendment 2 to Assembly Bill 1088. This amendment changed the time for a pharmacy to appeal to a PBM to resolve disputes regarding maximum allowable cost pricing from 21 days to 7 days and also changed the time for the PBM to investigate and resolve the appeal from 21 days to 7 days. Other provisions include: 4 FTE positions at the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) for market regulation, including PBM regulations; requiring OCI to initiate an investigation within 14 days upon complaint from a pharmacy to determine if there is probable cause to take action against a PBM for violating any provision of current law and; a 6-month implementation delay. Overall, this is a great outcome. In addition to accepting the amendment, this also means the end of any consideration of AB 773 / SB 737 which has been the greater goal. This legislation will now be considered by the State Senate.

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