Little Rock, Arkansas – The Arkansas Legislature’s ALC Administrative Rules Committee met Thursday and voted against Emergency Rule 128 after months of deliberation and debate. This means that the rule will not be made permanent.
In order to assist in guaranteeing that pharmacies receive “fair and reasonable rates” for prescription medications, lawmakers temporarily established Emergency Rule 128 in September.
They have been fighting for months to shield neighborhood pharmacies from the “unfair treatment” of pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, according to groups like the Arkansas Pharmacist Association.
Many pharmacies relied on this rule, therefore John Vinson, CEO of the Arkansas Pharmacist Association, said he is unhappy in the committee’s decision.
“I know that there were a lot of pharmacies hanging on expecting the emergency rule that was passed in September to take effect,” Vinson stated. “To require these trillion dollar middlemen that are anti-competitive and the way they treat the local pharmacies and patients to enrich themselves.”
Lawmakers cited a number of factors during Thursday’s meeting for their reluctance to approve the emergency rule.
Many people referred to the rule’s wording as “unclear,” referring to potential dispensing fines.
A “dispensing fee” that would raise premiums and prescription medication expenses from 3% to 4% was mentioned during the meeting by the Arkansas Department of Commerce and the Arkansas Insurance Department.
According to lawmakers like State Senator Missy Irvin, this might result in “a 10% difference on a prescription drug that would only cost $4” for Arkansans.
“I am against this because whenever I vote for a tax increase I don’t hide that by just saying that is compensation; that is not my intention as a legislator,” Irvin stated.
She also mentioned that patients would have to pay over $50 in dispensing fees if they had several prescriptions.
A position of power also played a role in Thursday night’s decision.
Allowing “one person,” the insurance commissioner, to choose the dispensing charge rate made lawmakers uneasy.
But according to the Insurance Department’s testimony during the meeting, the commissioner is legally free to choose the rate; this provision only serves to make it more “fair and reasonable.”
In order to stop more pharmacies from closing, the Arkansas Department of Commerce and the Arkansas Insurance Department anticipate that this rule will eventually assist them in establishing benchmarks and determining average expenses.
“There is no guarantee if a dispensing fee would be added or not,” the Insurance Department clarified, adding that it would be difficult to predict until data was analyzed.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas issued a statement after Thursday’s ruling, accusing PBMs of “driving up” healthcare expenses.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued the following statement on the ruling on Thursday:
“PBMs are driving up healthcare costs and will not be allowed to skirt the law,” Sanders stated. “In addition to working with our legislative partners to further protect Arkansans, my administration will continue to hold them accountable, including enforcing the $1.5 million fine we imposed on rule-breaking PBMs this summer—the largest pharmaceutical enforcement action in Arkansas history.”
On January 12, the emergency rule is scheduled to end.
