STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 2690 and 2727

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Assemblyman McKEON)

ADOPTED: MAY 23, 2019

      These amendments revise the prohibition in the committee substitute against pharmacy benefit managers regarding charges to covered persons, so that pharmacy benefits managers shall not require a covered person to make a payment at the point of sale for any amount for a deductible, coinsurance payment, or a copayment for a prescription drug benefit in an amount that exceeds the amount the covered person would pay for the prescription drug without using a health benefits plan.

      The amendments also provide that a pharmacy benefits manager shall not apply a penalty or any other type of disincentive to a network pharmacy that discloses to a covered person lower cost prescription drug options.

      The amendments also clarify that a violation by a pharmacy benefits manager of certain of the bill’s provisions shall be subject to any enforcement action that the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance is authorized to take pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2015, c.179 (C.17B:27F-5), in addition to constituting a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).

      The amendments also apply these same provisions to health insurance carriers.

      These amendments provide that the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, instead of the Commissioner of Health, shall develop a public information campaign to educate consumers about their rights under the bill, which includes notification of consumer rights near the point of purchase for prescription drugs.