CEO DATELINE - Pharmaceutical group challenges North Dakota laws
CEO DATELINE - Pharmaceutical group challenges North Dakota laws
- July 17, 2017 |
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Walt Williams
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The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging two North Dakota laws meant to prevent alleged abuses by pharmacy benefit managers.
Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, act as middlemen between insurance companies and pharmacists, the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald reported. The two new laws, set to go into effect Aug. 1, lay down new rules for PBMs, including a requirement the companies establish firewalls between administrative functions and the mail-order pharmacies they own. http://bit.ly/2txtNTq
In a statement, PCMA alleged the new laws "will increase drug costs and risk patient safety by restricting health plans' ability to reward drugstores that are willing to meet performance metrics that increase generic dispensing, improve adherence, and reduce inappropriate drug use." The group said federal law and Medicare Part D both supersede the North Dakota laws.
"These laws would increase prescription drug costs for consumers and the employers and unions that provide health benefits," PCMA CEO Mark Merritt said. http://bit.ly/2tj2DEw
State officials have so far not responded to the lawsuit.
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