Here's a report everyone should
read: "Clear Evidence Of US
Specialty Drug Price Collusion Ignored For Years," a study of specialty drug
prices and PBMs. State legislators have focussed on specialty drug issues in
several ways. Maryland House bill
736
requires the State Board of
Pharmacy to specify the prescription drugs that may be considered specialty
drugs by a PBM, which would be prohibited from requiring a specialty drug to be
dispensed by mail order and must instead allow any licensed pharmacy or
pharmacist to fill a prescription for a specialty drug if the pharmacy or
pharmacist meets specified requirements.
More typical are bills to require
insurance coverage of oral cancer drugs. Legislatures in 19
states and the District of Columbia enacted such "parity" laws in
2012, and this trend has continued in 2013. Massachusetts
recently enacted this legislation, SB 2363, signed into law by Governor
Patrick over the objections of business groups concerned about treatment costs
of as much as $115,000 per patient per year. LD 627, still
in committee in Maine, is typical of bills being introduced across the
country.
