STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 1405

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed By Assemblyman ROONEY)

ADOPTED: MAY 8, 1997

      These amendments provide that a prepaid prescription service organization shall not include an entity that contracts with an entity otherwise authorized or licensed pursuant to the laws of this State to provide a prescription service on a prepayment or other basis in connection with a health benefits plan.

      The amendments clarify that the regulation in this bill does not extend to prescription plans assuming risk which are subcontractors of insurers. In these cases, the insurer issuing the benefits plan, rather than the subcontractor, would have ultimate responsibility to provide the benefits under the plan.