Here’s Why States, Pharmacists Want SCOTUS to Weigh Another PBM Case

June 27

Although the Supreme Court has already weighed in on one case regarding states’ ability to regulate PBMs, the top law enforcement officials in more than 30 states are asking the high court to review another case that they claim will remove lingering uncertainty about the limits of states’ authority.

In PCMA v. Mulready, the current case, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association is challenging an Oklahoma law — the Patient’s Right to Pharmacy Choice Act — which sets geography-based access standards for pharmacy networks. Among other provisions, it also bans PBMs from using discounts or cost-sharing differences to push plan members to certain in-network pharmacies, particularly those owned by that same PBM’s parent company.

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Radar on Drug Benefits

Leslie Small

Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.