DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday signed bipartisan bills into law that are designed to reduce prescription drug costs by regulating pharmacy benefit managers that oversee coverage for employers, insurers and others.
Parts of the laws took effect immediately while others, including licensing requirements and bans on “spread pricing” and “gag clauses,” begin in 2024.
Whitmer said the changes, which were recommended by a task force she created in 2020, will improve transparency and ensure that Michigan residents “have access to all the information about the back-end cost and profit of their prescription medication. This will help lower inflated prices.”
She signed the legislation at a Lansing-area Meijer where she was joined by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Three pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, dominate the U.S. market: CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx. They are third-party administrators that set up lists of covered drugs, determine copays, negotiate rebates for some drugs to help offset high initial or list prices, and do other behind-the-scenes work.