“We want to take healthcare back in Georgia and we will,” said Rep. David Knight (R-Griffin). “Today we are saying that we won’t take this in Georgia anymore. Let’s tell the insurance companies and PBMs that they need to stay in their lane. Please stand up with me against these heinous, heinous practices.”
Knight pleaded his case Wednesday morning to fellow members of the Georgia House of Representatives, asking for their vote and support for three bills designed to cut costs to patients and pharmacists by regulating pharmacy benefit managers. His peers responded, passing all three bills and sending them to the State Senate for their consideration.
“I told you all that one of the most important discussions we needed to have was the need to address corporate takeover of healthcare in Georgia. These companies are totally controlling healthcare, and it’s time to put a stop to it,” said Knight.
Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate drug prices while playing a big role in decisions such as which drugs are eligible for rebates, which drugs will be covered by insurance companies, and which pharmacies consumers can purchase their medications from. Knight and others state lawmakers claim that PBMs put their own profits above consumers.
One of the three bills passed Wednesday, House Bill 946, would restrict PBMs from charging an insurance company more for a drug than it cost from a pharmacy and would increase transparency and help manage drug costs, Knight said. It would require PBMs to pass along all rebates to consumers and would ban the PBMs from requiring policy holders to fill prescriptions at specific pharmacies.
HB 946 also gives the State Insurance Commissioner move oversight and control over the industry.
“Stand with me, and stand with all the medical advocacy groups who want to take healthcare back — like the Medical Association of Georgia, the MS Society, the Georgia Hospital Association and so many others,” said Knight.
Also Wednesday morning, Representatives gave unanimous approval to HB 947 which would allow the state to consider removing pharmacy benefit managers from its Medicaid plan, and House Bill 918, which addresses the pharmacy audit process and how much pharmacies would have to reimburse the benefit manager for errors.
The Senate is studying a similar bill, SB 313. According to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge), the main purpose of his legislation is to increase transparency on pharmaceutical pricing. “Right now there are a lot of mechanisms that happen behind closed doors that make it very difficult for policy makers, like members of this committee, to make good decisions on what is the right thing for the state of Georgia,” said Burke.
According to Burke, this bill would also allow the State Insurance Commissioner better ability to regulate the industry.
