Sen. McCortney wins Senate approval for ‘Prescription Access and Affordability Act’

The full Senate has given unanimous approval to Senate Bill 841, the Prescription Access and Affordability Act, by Sen. Greg McCortney. The Ada Republican said the legislation will give better consumer protections for Oklahomans and protections for local pharmacies who want to help customers save money on prescriptions.

SB 841 would expand consumer access to pharmacies and make it easier to understand how much they’re going to pay for prescriptions and additional information that would be helpful for them when purchasing prescription medication.

“There were a couple of things I really wanted to address on behalf of Oklahomans and our local pharmacies. For example, there are some drugs that carry very expensive co-pays, depending on the insurance company. It could actually be cheaper to pay out-of-pocket than to cover the cost of that co-pay, but the pharmacists is under a gag clause that prevents them from telling customers about that savings,” McCortney said. “My bill will do away with that gag clause and make it easier for local pharmacies to save you money without the insurance company getting in the way."

McCortney said the bill also addresses the issue of corporate “clawbacks” that hurt local pharmacies.

“Right now it is perfectly legal for a company to change prices on a specific drug, then at the end of the year go back to those local pharmacies and basically take that additional money from them without notification,” McCortney said. “As you can imagine, this can be extremely detrimental to the pharmacy. This bill would prevent such clawbacks.”

If signed into law, Senate Bill 841 would:

Ensure that health insurers contract with pharmacies that are reasonably close to the individuals covered under the plan. The Insurance Commissioner would be responsible for review and enforcement.
Prohibit contractual language between a benefits manager and a pharmacy that would prohibit disclosure of cost information to patients.
Require health insurance plans to develop a list of their covered drugs and post it on their website, along with information such as the price, whether step therapy or prior authorization is required, etc., so that patients can be fully informed.
Require that if there is compensation a health insurer receives from pharmaceutical companies, that money will be used for such things as lowering premiums and expanding coverage.
Create a Prescription Access and Affordability Advisory Committee for receiving and processing alleged violations of provisions of the act.

Senate Bill 841 will now move to the House of Representatives for further consideration.