Court Ruling Finds that ERISA Preempts State PBM Law
COURT REJECTS BID TO PREEMPT ERISA…In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in PCMA v. Mulready court sustained PCMA’s challenge to four provisions in a misguided Oklahoma state law by finding them to be preempted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Medicare Part D program.
The court’s decision supports the interests of employers, as well as unions and Part D plans, who seek to follow a common set of legal requirements for the benefits they provide to millions of Americans—a clear defeat of proposals that would result in a cumbersome, inefficient, and costly patchwork of potentially conflicting state-by-state benefit requirements.
The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) President, James Gelfand, applauded the court’s ruling, saying the ruling “marks a key victory in preserving ERISA preemption from further erosion and safeguards the ability of self-insured employer plans to continue to provide access to high quality care in a nationwide market.”
Read PCMA’s full press release regarding the ruling here.
Want more info? Check out what other organizations saying:
- ERISA Industry Committee Press Release
- American Benefits Council Press Release
- American Action Forum Blog: Redemption Preemption
In The News
New data reveals climbing drug costs. In 2021, 822 brand drugs prices were raised by an average 4.6%. In fact, the median list price for a year’s supply of a new brand name prescription drug has increased by $178,000 in the past 15 years—in 2021, the median list price was $180,000, while in 2008, that price was only $2,000.
The good news is PBMs exist as a check on pharma’s power to increase costs for patients. While new drug launch prices increase 20% each year, PBMs utilize their negotiation power and cost-effective tools to lower prescription drug costs by 50%, saving patients an average $1,040 per person every year. See more data in this infographic.
Learn more about public policy solutions that would promote competition in the prescription drug market and effectively lower prices for patients HERE.
Learn more about the critical role of pharmacy benefit companies and how Big Pharma’s egregious practices are the root cause of high drug prices HERE.
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients.
