OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill that supporters believe would help local pharmacies was vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt on April 22. And while supporters of the measure say they are pushing to have the governor’s veto overridden, the bill’s future still remains uncertain.
Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, told The Constitution that no decision about the measure has been made yet.
“The pro tempore plans to review each veto and put them through the proper vetting process before making any decisions,” Gerszewski said. “There hasn’t been a decision made on whether or not the veto will be overridden.”
Senate Bill 2074, written by Sen. Jerry Alvord, R-Wilson, and Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond, would regulate pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs, the middlemen who help set drug prices.
The measure would require PBMs to reimburse pharmacies at the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost and require a professional dispensing fee paid to pharmacists equal to Oklahoma’s Medicaid rate, which is currently $11.41 under the State Plan. The bill also tightens appeal timelines and documentation.
The bill would make it so that PBMs cannot reimburse providers for a prescription drug or pharmacy service in an amount less than the national drug acquisition cost plus a professional dispensing fee that is no less than the Medicaid rate.
Supporters said the bill is all about transparency.
“It’s about knowing what your drug costs should be and making sure that the PBMs that are charging your businesses and our constituents are making sure that they’re doing it in a way that is fully transparent about,” Rep. T.J. Marti, R-Broken Arrow, told a Oklahoma City television station.
Still, not everyone supports the bill. Oklahoma Families for Affordable Health Care believes the fee could hit Oklahomans at the pharmacy counter.
“It’s fine to want to help pharmacies. We are all for that, but not by adding a $10 fee on every prescription, and we don’t think that’s fair to hardworking Oklahomans who can barely afford health care as it is,” said Julie McKone, executive director, Oklahoma Families for Affordable Health Care.
And other opponents of the bill said the measure is too costly.
“Employers came to the table willing to negotiate because statewide pharmacy access is essential,” Chad Warmington, president of the State Chamber of Commerce, said. “But moving to an $11 dispensing fee is not a modest adjustment — it’s a dramatic increase compared to what employers pay today. And those costs don’t disappear; they get passed on to working families.”
Peter Dobelbower, senior vice president and general counsel for Hobby Lobby Inc., and chairman of Oklahoma Employers Health Care Alliance, said he hoped the governor’s veto stood.
In a letter to members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, he said the costs increase sparked by the measure would be large.
“Every prescription purchased by an employee through their employer-sponsored health plan will cost an additional $11.41,” Dobelbower wrote. “While sponsors of this bill say prescription costs will only increase by $2.00, this is simply not correct.”
Dobelbower said the measure would cause a dramatic tax increase, especially on the sick.
“The purpose of this so-called PBM bill is to take action against PBMs. Yet, this bill is of no consequence at all to any PBM – because PBMs will not be the ones to pay this,” he wrote. “Have the PBMs been knocking at your door asking you to vote No on this bill? Of course, they haven’t. This bill does NOTHING to require PBMs to absorb this tax increase.”
Dobelbower estimated the cost at his company would increase by $2.6 million in one year. And while he said he is supportive of the governor’s veto, he said he’d like to see a new effort – bringing in all sides – to address the issue.
“We appreciate Governor Stitt’s veto of SB 2074 and hope the Legislature will allow it to stand,” he said. “We remain committed to working with Oklahoma’s independent pharmacists and other stakeholders to pursue meaningful PBM reform, but legislation cannot guarantee that PBMs will absorb these added dispensing fees, leaving Oklahoma employers and employees to bear the cost.”
Records show that a similar bill was argued in Mississippi and sought to set a similar reimbursement rate plus a flat $11.29 dispensing fee per prescription. The White House intervened and has urged lawmakers to reject the Mississippi bill on the grounds that the U.S. Senate amended version could complicate President Trump’s policy of providing access to the lowest prices on prescription medications for every American, while threatening access to discounts.
Oklahoma lawmakers will just have a day or so to decide the fate of the bill. The Second Session of the 60th Oklahoma Legislature is set to adjourn Thursday.