MAINE'S GROUNDBREAKING 2003 PBM PRICING DISCLOSURE & CONFLICT OF INTEREST LAW THREATENED WITH REPEAL

Maine's 2003 Pharmacy Benefit Manager law would be repealed if a bill introduced March 15, 2011 is enacted. The legislation, LD 1116, "An Act To Restore Market-based Competition for Pharmacy Benefits Management Services" is sponsored byRepresentative Meredith Strang Burgess and repeals the state's Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Law, 22 MRSA 2699. The law bars conflicts of interest, kickback and self-dealing by PBM drug industry middlemen, and requires the value of rebates to be passed through to ultimately benefit consumers. The law was amended in 2010 to give the Bureau of Insurance limited oversight authority over PBMs and to require the State Auditor to assist state agencies in contracting with PBMs. More information about PBM fee disclosure. 

 

REPORT FROM NEW MEXICO: DRUG REDISTRIBUTION YES, PBM REGISTRATION NO 

While Senator Dede Feldman's PBM licensing bill died on the last day of session, March 19, her legislation SB 37 was enacted. This law provides opportunities for patients to donate unused drugs back to doctors and clinics and allow them (after rules are adopted by the Board of Pharmacy) to re-dispense for free to other patients.  This year, the bill was supported by the trial lawyers and PhARMA worked with the sponsors to iron out the liability issues which had killed the bill two years ago. Read about the law here. 

 

IN WASHINGTON STATE, DRUG TAKE-BACK BILL FAILS YET AGAIN 

EDITORIAL IN THE OLYMPIAN: "Long battle for state drug take-back program must continue"
"State senators dropped the ball when they failed by a single vote last week to approve legislation to launch a statewide medicine take-back program funded by the pharmaceutical companies. The drug industry mounted a successful lobbying campaign to keep the state from becoming the first to approve a system that would do a better job of keeping unused prescription and over the counter drugs from being misused and abused. A broad coalition of law enforcement agencies, local governments, health care professionals, environmental groups and substance abuse prevention networks vowed to continue their work to refine and promote legislation that would provide safe disposal of unused drugs, estimated at 10 percent to 30 percent of all drugs prescribed or sold over the counter. MORE   

 

ALSO IN WASHINGTON, SENATOR KAREN KEISER MOVES AHEAD WITH A  QUI TAM MEDICAID FRAUD BILL 

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATION PROMOTES LEVERAGED PURCHASING

Speaker Chris Donovan says of HB 6322, State Prescription Drug Purchasing "This bill is another great example of using the size of the state employee pool to leverage greater discounts for other healthcare purchasers. HB 6322 would enable the Comptroller's Office to amend its existing prescription drug purchasing contract to include the Medicaid, Husky, ConnPACE and Charter Oak programs. The Comptroller's office estimates that by implementing this innovative streamlining measure, the state will save $66.5 million annually "without harming prescription coverage for some of the state's most vulnerable residents."

 

NEW YORK GOVERNOR PROPOSES BIG CUTS IN EPIC, THE STATE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM FOR THE ELDERLY

Gov. Cuomo has proposed cuts in EPIC, the New York prescription drug program for people age 65 and over. EPIC would no longer cover anyone who does not also participate in Part D. Of the current 307,700 enrollees, about 52,969 are not in Part D plans - (8/2009 figures) because they are in Medicare Advantage, a retiree plan, or not eligible for Medicare (immigrants without green cards for 5 years). As a result, 17% of current EPIC members would no longer be eligible for EPIC. In addition, EPIC would no longer cover drugs during the annual deductible period (21 out of 33 Part D plans in NYS in 2011 have an annual deductible). EPIC would no longer "wrap around" Part D to help reduce its costs. 52,000 (out of 302,000) enrollees who are not on Medicare or who have Medicare but have been excused from enrolling in Part D because it would jeopardize their retiree coverage, etc. In the end of 2009, out of 254,000 EPIC members with Part D, about 77,800 had "Extra Help" or the Low Income Subsidy, or fewer than one-third of those who have Medicare.

 

IOWA GETS $1.17 MILLION IN 38-STATE ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUG SETTLEMENT

Iowa and 37 other states who objected to the way an antipsychotic drug was marketed will split $68.5 million as part of what Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is calling "the largest-ever multistate consumer protection-based pharmaceutical settlement agreement." Miller and the other attorneys general contend that London-based AstraZenica "engaged in unfair and deceptive practices" when it urged doctors to use the drug Seroquel for unapproved or off-label uses, including for treatment of anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Led by Florida and Illinois, the states involved in the case included: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconson and Washington, D.C. MORE 

 

MEANWHILE IN MICHIGAN, A SIMILAR LAWSUIT IS STOPPED IN ITS TRACKS DUE TO UNIQUE MICHIGAN DRUG COMPANY IMMUNITY LAW 

Court stops Michigan from suing Merck over Vioxx [Detroit Free Press]

WISCONSIN OFFICIAL DEFENDS DRUG COVERAGE CHANGES

Wisconsin should keep optional Medicaid services such as drug coverage and shift costly patients into managed care, the state's health services secretary recently told health care advocates. Dennis Smith, who heads the Department of Health Services, vowed to be transparent about Medicaid changes, even though Gov. Scott Walker's stalled budget repair bill would give Smith new powers to reshape the state-federal health plan for the poor with less legislative review than required now. The state won't drop optional Medicaid services, such as prescription drugs and home care that can keep people out of nursing homes, Smith said. Smith said the budget's requirement that the 91,000 people on SeniorCare, a state drug plan, sign up for Medicare Part D, a federal drug benefit, would save the poorest seniors money while curbing costs to the state. MORE 

CALIFORNIA REGULATORS TAKE AIM AT DRUG COMPANY KICKBACK SCHEME, WHILE SEC INVESTIGATES PENSION SYSTEM CONTRACT WITH PBM MEDCO 

California Lawsuit Accuses Bristol-Myers Squibb Of Fraud, Kickbacks

California regulators are taking aim at giant drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., accusing it of bribing doctors and pharmacists to use its products by offering thousands of cash kickbacks, gifts and "happy hours" with the Los Angeles Lakers. MORE 

 

Medco Health's PBM Contract Scrapped

California Public Employees' Retirement System's (CalPERS) decision to cease all discussions on the renewal of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) contract comes as a setback for Medco Health Solutions. This decision was taken in the backdrop of certain investigations regarding Medco. Earlier this month CalPERS announced it would cooperate with the California Attorney General's Office and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for their investigations. This investigation comes on the back of an allegation that Medco had paid former CalPERS board member, Al Villalobos more than $4 million as consultancy fees for this business. Investigations are also being carried out on alleged improper conduct by former CalPERS CEO Fred Buenrostro and some former Board Members. MORE 

 

SENIORS OBJECT TO ILLINOIS GOVERNOR'S PLAN TO ELIMINATE PRESCRIPTION ASSISTANCE

[GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE] Opposition is building to Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed elimination of a $107 million-a-year program that helps low-income senior citizens and disabled people afford prescription drugs. "We're having people call us frantically now," said Beth Monnat, a pharmaceutical assistance specialist at Senior Services of Central Illinois in Springfield. "They don't know what they're going to do. We don't know what to do." The panic began in mid-February, when the governor unveiled a state budget for fiscal 2012 that included no money to operate the Illinois Cares Rx program. Quinn had unsuccessfully pushed for cuts in the program before, beginning in 2009, to help the state deal with a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. But the Chicago Democrat never before suggested that the program, which serves more than 200,000 people statewide, be eliminated. MORE