An Arkansas legislative subcommittee on Thursday adopted an emergency rule to help pharmacies around the state deal with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) and the costs associated with them.
PBM’s act as middlemen between pharmacies and insurance companies and decide which drugs are covered, how much pharmacies are compensated, and which pharmacies patients can use.
Arkansas currently has a law requiring PBM’s to pay pharmacies the national average rate and lawmakers admitted that the law needs to be enforced more. At the hearing, the Arkansas Insurance Department reported they have received 1,600 complaints from pharmacists about the costs of PBM’s.
One example cited was PBM’s would charge as much as $19,000 for a cancer drug that would cost $100 at a small pharmacy.
Emergency Rule 12B is the Fair and Reasonable Reimbursements which was approved and the Arkansas Insurance Department, which is responsible for dealing with PBM’s was ordered to report to the legislative council monthly.
