Tag Archives: pharmaceutical
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Comparison of Bills Creating State Prescription Drug Affordability Review Boards
A growing number of states are considering legislation to create prescription drug affordability review boards during the 2019 session. These boards would enable states to set “allowable rates” for certain high-cost drugs identified by the board, similar to the approach states use to regulate utilities or insurance premiums. NASHP released drug affordability review board model […]
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State Laws Help Spur Congressional Action on Drug Prices
Unrelenting and unpredictable increases in prescription drug prices have spurred states to try to unlock the black box of manufacturer pricing strategies by requiring disclosure of how prices are set and how rebates are handled throughout the supply chain. Six states already have transparency laws on their books and almost two dozen more have introduced […]
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New Tools Help States Document Rx Costs and Identify Potential Savings
Just how much are states spending on prescription drugs? And, which drugs account for their greatest expense? As state policymakers grapple with solutions to the problem of rising drug costs, officials are performing research to provide critical evidence and tools needed to inform policy. Two recent state efforts to document their prescription drug costs may […]
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Pharmacy Benefit Manager Model Legislation: Questions and Answers
These questions and answers explain the role pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) play in the drug supply chain and highlight NASHP’s model PBM legislation that states can use to better oversee PBMs and protect consumers. What are pharmacy benefit managers? Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) contract with health plans to administer their pharmacy benefits. Depending what a health […]
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Twenty-Eight States Passed 45 Bills to Curb Rising Rx Drug Costs in the Short 2018 Legislative Session
*Updated Oct. 15, 2018 Despite a short legislative season, state lawmakers across the country introduced an unprecedented 174 bills to stem the rising cost of prescription drugs and have enacted 45 into law — with seven state legislatures still in session. Last year, state legislatures introduced 100 Rx cost control bills and passed 27. Register […]
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Feds Send Mixed Responses on States’ Efforts to Control Medicaid Drug Costs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had a mixed response to two states’ innovative efforts to control Medicaid drug costs in June. The agency denied Massachusetts’ 1115 waiver request to create a closed Medicaid drug formulary, but it approved Oklahoma’s State Plan Amendment that authorizes supplemental rebates for value-based purchasing arrangements with pharmaceutical […]
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How the Federal Government Can Help States Address Rising Prescription Drug Costs
State Medicaid programs, which face rapidly rising drug costs, have few bargaining chips to use when negotiating lower drug costs, due in part to decades-old federal rules that limit their bargaining power. NASHP, with support of The Commonwealth Fund, recently sat down with state and federal policymakers to identify policy and rule changes that could […]
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Utah State Legislator Introduces Bill to Import Prescription Drugs from Canada, Based on NASHP Model Legislation
Salt Lake City, Utah: Today, Republican state legislator Norman Thurston introduced groundbreaking legislation to create a safe, state-run prescription drug importation program that would import high-cost drugs from Canada, where prescription drugs cost 30 percent less than in the United States. The proposal for a whole-sale importation program of select, higher-cost drugs that are already […]
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The Dormant Commerce Clause: What Impact Does It Have on the Regulation of Pharmaceutical Costs?
When states pass laws designed to control prescription drug costs, the pharmaceutical industry often responds with lawsuits claiming states are hindering interstate commerce and violating the federal Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC). NASHP’s legal experts believe states can craft drug cost policies that can withstand industry challenges. This brief by Anna Zaret and Darien Shankse provides insight and […]