The Oregon Legislature passed a bill this year that aims to help pharmacists overcome challenges they face in dealing with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), although the organization that represents them believes more can be done.
NCPA submitted comments to the Oregon House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care in support of PBM reform legislation backed by the Oregon State Pharmacy Association. In combination, HBs 3012, 3013, and 3015 address PBM transparency, network access to any willing pharmacy, fair and adequate reimbursement via an average actual acquisition cost benchmark, and a prohibition on retroactive fees. NCPA continues to work with its members and with OSPA as the bills await next steps.
In her best-selling book, The Hate U Give, author Angie Thomas wrote, “intentions always look better on paper than in reality.” With those words, she could well have been describing the health status of communities of color. Even with the best of intentions from elected officials and policymakers about advancing equity and eliminating health disparities, the reality is that we have a worsening health care situation in the United States, and Oregon specifically, and we’re still lacking in solutions to remedy the problem.