California Bans Prescription Discounts with Generic Equivalents

The California Assembly and Senate recently passed AB265, focused on amending price discounts permitted on prescription drugs. The legislation was initially offered by Assembly Members Wood and Chiu on January 31, 2017. The legislation passed the Assembly on May 31, 2017, followed by the California Senate on September 12, 2017. Governor Jerry Brown has twelve days from the day the bills are presented to him to decide whether to sign or veto the bills before they automatically become law. AB265 was presented to the Governor on September 20, 2017, at 4:30 pm, meaning the twelve days are up and the bill automatically became law yesterday, October 2, 2017. The bill prohibits prescription drug manufacturers from offering discounts or other reductions in an individual’s out-of-pocket costs associated with his or her insurance coverage, if a lower cost generic equivalent is available. The legislation also specifies exceptions where discounts will be permitted, even if a lower cost generic is available. Those exceptions include: Discounts for a prescription drug required under a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to monitor the use of that prescription drug in a manner consistent with the approved labeling; A single-tablet drug regimen for treatment or prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) that is as effective as a multi-tablet regimen; If the individual has...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs