The first quarter of the Colorado General Assembly has been a whirlwind of legislation introduced and
new legislators appointed. The Colorado House of Representatives did not have all 65 seats filled until
the beginning of February. This created disruption in final committee assignments, with changes
occurring yet again with the selection of Democrat Kyle Brown to House District 12, who was elected to
fill the vacancy left by Tracee Bennett. Now that the House is fully represented, hopefully there will be
no more resignations until after the General Assembly concludes May 8th .
The 2022 election brought many changes to the Colorado General Assembly. Here is statistical profile of
the 2023 General Assembly:
32 brand-new members. 19 Democrats. 13 Republicans.
With the election of Kyle Brown, the female majority was erased, now a 50/50 gender balance.
Of the 32 new members, 16 are female and 16 are male. Only three of the new Republican
members are women.
There are 10 new legislators with local government experience, three with K-12 education, five
lawyers, and nine veterans among the 32 new members.
Given legislators who were re-elected, plus senators in the middle of their four-year terms,
there are only 68 out of 100 experienced members.
RxPlus has been busy, vetting bills, taking positions, drafting legislation, testifying, and having
stakeholder meetings on a variety of bills.
Top of the hit list, is the yet to be introduced legislation to enforce current laws prohibiting PBMs from
engaging in unfair business practices such as: 1) Mandating mail order, 2) Charging pharmacies excessive
fees, 3) Requiring different accreditations for pharmacies that are not PBM affiliated pharmacies, 3)
Retroactively recouping payments, 4) Modifying the drug formulary within a plan year, 5) Restricting,
gaging, or penalizing a pharmacist from offering cheaper alternatives on drugs.
Additionally, the bill will enforce laws that require PBMs to act fairly such as: 1) Conducting fair audits,
providing notice, and only performing one audit within one calendar year, 2) Providing consumers and
health-care providers with up-to-date, real-time drug cost, benefit, and coverage, 3) Providing
pharmacies with an appeal process for underwater reimbursements when a PBM is using Maximum
Allowable Cost (MAC).
Next on the list is opposing legislation that would criminalize the dispensing of medication containing
any amount of fentanyl – SB 109, and supporting or amending legislation dealing with Medicaid
preauthorization for mental health drugs – SB 33, prescribing off label – SB41, prescribing and dispensing
or refusing to prescribe or dispense drugs for chronic pain – SB144, and creating a program to make epi
pens accessible by limiting the cost to $60 for two pens and requiring carriers and manufacturers to
make up the differential in cost to the pharmacy.
The next few weeks will see actions taken on these bills as well as newly introduced bills that will have
to be reviewed for concerns and action.
