RxPlus Legislative Report
April 6, 2023
The General Assembly has passed the into the final quarter of this legislative race to the finish, with 30 days left to the 120-day session! The state budget passed both chambers and is back in the hands of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) to reconcile differences. Legislators are quickly encroaching on 600 bills, with new bills being introduced every day. Controversial gun and reproductive health care bills caused legislators to work 15 days in a row, which has not been done before and those bills are now in the governor’s hands. As with any bill of interest or concern, RxPlus continues to participate in stakeholder meetings on your behalf. The latest bill introduced RxPlus is stake holding is SB260, Concerning Publicly Funded Vaccines.
HB23-1201 Concerning PBM “spread pricing” is sitting in House Appropriations, waiting for the finalization of the state budget before it continues its trek to the Governor. Please respond to Action Alerts and ask your legislators to keep PBMs accountable.
HB 1227, the PBM Enforcement bill, is waiting for final approval in the House. Thank you for responding to action alerts. Please call and email legislators, as the bill moves over to the Senate.
SB144, Prescription Drugs for Chronic Pain, is on its way to the Governor. The bill prohibits pharmacies from having a policy to refuse to dispense medications over 90mme.
SB162, Increased Access to Pharmacy Services is also off to the Governor. The bill limits pharm tech expansion both in scope and in central fill pharmacies, while allowing for a ‘ramp up” for pharmacies to participate in vaccines for children (VFC).
HB1195 Automated Pharmacy Dispensing Systems allows for hospitals to use automated dispensing systems while limiting their use in retail settings to after pharmacy hours.
SB260, Publicly Funded Vaccines prohibits providers, including pharmacists, from requiring an individual seeking a publicly funded vaccine to present any identification, including insurance cards, or from charging for a vaccine that is publicly funded. RxPlus is seeking amendments to require the individual to provide proof of insurance if they have insurance and to allow pharmacies to charge a reasonable administration fee to under or uninsured individuals for the publicly funded vaccines.
See All RxPlus Bills here: RxPlus 2023 Membership Bill Tracker