Gov. Gretchen Whitmer brought a bill signing to a Lansing-area Meijer on Wednesday, signing prescription-related legislation into law while flanked by bipartisan lawmakers and Meijer pharmacy staff.
The bills — House Bills 4348, 4351 and 4352 — aim to lower prescription drug costs, ensure transparency about pharmaceutical treatment options and hold pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) accountable.
The package came together with bipartisan support in the Legislature.
“Some people travel across the border to Canada to get their prescription drugs — and some cry when they refill their medication, knowing that the prescription drugs are saving their life, but the cost is killing them,” Whitmer said Wednesday at the West Saginaw Highway Meijer.
HB 4348 is sponsored by state Rep. Julie Calley (R-Portland). It requires PBMs operating in Michigan to be licensed and regulated by the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), and prevents them from engaging in certain practices that drive up drug costs.
PBMs are companies that negotiate with drug manufacturers and pharmacies to manage prescription drug benefits and control drug spending. A pharmacy benefit manager plays a significant role in determining medication costs and patients’ access to those drugs.
The new legislation “reigns in a number of nefarious ways PBMs have started to create more revenue,” Calley said Wednesday.
“… Many states started reigning in the role of PBMs years ago; Michiganders have literally been paying the price. That stops now.”
Calley added that the bills signed into law make Michigan “one of the most assertive in the nation” on regulating prescription drug costs.
HB 4351, sponsored by state Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), provides more transparency for consumers about the real cost of prescriptions.
A contract between a pharmacy and a PBM “must not prohibit the pharmacy from disclosing the current selling price of a drug,” the new law states.
PBMs are also prohibited from discriminating against 340B Program entities that provide discounted drugs to Medicaid patients, and from discriminating against pharmacies solely because the carrier does not have a vested financial interest in the pharmacy.
Whitmer said this will “ensure Michiganders have access to all the information about the backend cost and profit of their prescription medication.”
Finally, HB 4352 — introduced by state Rep. Sue Allor (R-Wolverine) — requires notices to be displayed that spell out consumers’ rights to know about and purchase drugs at their selling price or comparative current selling price. It also prohibits pharmacies from entering into a contract with PBMs that violate HB 4351, prohibits disclosure of drug prices and comparative selling prices of generic and brand name drugs or interferes with a patient’s right to receive an eligible drug from a 340B entity.
“As we gather here at Meijer, I’m especially reminded that many Michigan residents, our seniors and our most vulnerable have to choose between food and their critical medications,” said state Rep. Angela Witwer (D-Delta Twp.).
Witwer said rising prescription drug costs are one of the top issues she hears about from constituents.
All three bills stem from recommendations by Whitmer’s Prescription Drug Task Force, which she created by executive order in February 2020. Whitmer said there is more work to do on the subject and noted that she looks forward to enacting more of their policy recommendations by working with legislators across the aisle.
authored by Laina G. Stebbins
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2022%2F02%2F23%2Fwhitmer-signs-bipartisan-bills-aimed-at-lowering-drug-costs-improving-transparency%2F
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