AB114: Bill Text

AB114,14,12 (a) Unless approved by the commissioner, charge a pharmacist or pharmacy a fee related to the adjudication of a claim, including a fee for receiving and processing a pharmacy claim, developing or managing claims processing services in a pharmacy benefit manager network, or participating in a pharmacy benefit manager network.

AB114,14,16 (b) Unless approved by the commissioner after consulting with the pharmacy examining board, require pharmacist or pharmacy accreditation standards or certification requirements in addition to, more stringent than, or inconsistent with any requirements of the pharmacy examining board.

AB114,14,21 (c) Reimburse a pharmacy or pharmacist in this state an amount less than the amount that the pharmacy benefit manager reimburses an affiliate of the pharmacy benefit manager for providing the same services. To comply with this paragraph, the pharmacy benefit manager shall compare the amounts calculated on a per-unit basis using the same generic product identifier or generic code number.

AB114,14,24 (d) After termination of a pharmacy or pharmacist from a pharmacy benefit network, fail to make payments to a pharmacist or pharmacy for services that were properly rendered and provided before termination.

AB114,15,5 (e) Prohibit, restrict, or limit a pharmacy or pharmacist from disclosing information to the commissioner, law enforcement, or a state or federal governmental official that is investigating or examining a complaint or conducting a review of a pharmacy benefit manager's compliance with the requirements under this section.

AB114,15,10 (3) Conflict of interest; business practices. (a) If a pharmacy benefit manager makes a formulary substitution in which the substitute drug costs more than the originally prescribed drug, the pharmacy benefit manager shall disclose to the health benefit plan sponsor the cost of the drugs and any benefit that accrues, directly or indirectly, to the pharmacy benefit manager related to the substitution.

AB114,15,12 (b) A pharmacy benefit manager may not require that a pharmacy or pharmacist enter into one contract in order to enter into another contract.

AB114,15,16 (c) A pharmacy benefit manager shall notify a health benefit plan sponsor in writing of any activity, policy, or practice of the pharmacy benefit manager that presents a conflict of interest, directly or indirectly, with any requirement of this section.

AB114,15,19 (4) Retroactive claim reduction. A pharmacy benefit manager may not retroactively deny or reduce a pharmacist's or pharmacy's claim after adjudication of the claim unless any of the following is true:

AB114,15,20 (a) The original claim was submitted fraudulently.

AB114,15,22 (b) The payment for the original claim was incorrect because the pharmacy or pharmacist had already been paid for the pharmacy services.

AB114,15,23 (c) The pharmacy services were not rendered by the pharmacist or pharmacy.

AB114,16,2 649.35 Audits of pharmacies or pharmacists. (1) Definition. In this section, “entity” means a defined network plan, as defined in s. 609.01 (1b), insurer, 3rd-party payer, or pharmacy benefit manager or a person acting on behalf of a defined network plan, insurer, 3rd-party payer, or pharmacy benefit manager.

AB114,16,4 (2) Audit procedure requirements. An entity conducting an audit of pharmacist or pharmacy records shall do all of the following:

AB114,16,7 (a) If the audit is an audit on the premises of the pharmacist or pharmacy, notify the pharmacist or pharmacy in writing of the audit at least 2 weeks before conducting the audit.

AB114,16,9 (b) Refrain from auditing a pharmacist or pharmacy within the first 7 days of a month unless the pharmacist or pharmacy consents to an audit during that time.

AB114,16,12 (c) If the audit involves clinical or professional judgement, conduct the audit by or in consultation with a pharmacist licensed in this state or the pharmacy examining board.

AB114,16,14 (d) Limit the audit review to claims submitted no more than 2 years before the date of the audit.

AB114,16,16 (e) Audit each pharmacist or pharmacy under the same standards and parameters as other similarly situated pharmacists or pharmacies.

AB114,16,18 (f) Establish a written appeals process that allows appeals of preliminary and final reports and allows for mediation if either party is dissatisfied with the appeal.

AB114,16,23 (g) Allow the pharmacist or pharmacy to use records of a hospital, physician, or other health care provider to validate the pharmacist's or pharmacy's records and use any prescription that complies with requirements of the pharmacy examining board to validate claims in connection with a prescription, refill of a prescription, or change in prescription.

AB114,16,25 (3) Results of audit. (a) An entity that has conducted an audit of a pharmacist or pharmacy shall do all of the following:

AB114,17,2 1. Deliver to the pharmacist or pharmacy a preliminary report of the audit within 60 days after date of the conclusion of the audit.

AB114,17,5 2. Allow a pharmacist or pharmacy that is the subject of an audit at least 30 days after the date the pharmacist or pharmacy receives the preliminary report to provide documentation to address any discrepancy found in the audit.

AB114,17,8 3. Deliver to the pharmacist or pharmacy a final audit report within 90 days of the date the pharmacist or pharmacy receives the preliminary report or the date of the final appeal of the audit, whichever is later.

AB114,17,11 4. Refrain from assessing a recoupment or other penalty on a pharmacist or pharmacy until the appeal process is exhausted and the final report under subd. 3. is delivered to the pharmacist or pharmacy.

AB114,17,15 5. Base a finding of overpayment or underpayment of a claim on the actual overpayment or underpayment and not on a projection based on the number of patients served having a similar diagnosis or on the number of similar orders or refills for similar drugs.

AB114,17,16 6. Exclude dispensing fees from calculations of overpayments.

AB114,17,18 7. Refrain from using extrapolation in calculating the recoupments or penalties for an audit.

AB114,17,20 8. Refrain from charging interest until the final report under subd. 3. has been delivered.

AB114,18,2 (b) If an audit of a pharmacist or pharmacy identifies a clerical or record-keeping error in a required document or record, the pharmacy benefit manager or entity conducting the audit may not request recoupment of funds from the pharmacist or pharmacy based on such an error unless the pharmacy benefit manager or entity proves the pharmacist or pharmacy intended to commit fraud or unless the error by the pharmacist or pharmacy results in actual financial harm to the pharmacy benefit manager, a health benefit plan, or a consumer.

AB114,18,6 (c) Information obtained in an audit under this section is confidential and may not be shared unless the information is required to be shared under state or federal law. An entity conducting an audit may have access to the previous audit reports on a particular pharmacy conducted by the same entity.

AB114,18,9 (d) Any entity that conducts an audit shall provide to the health benefit plan a copy of the final report of the audit and a disclosure of any recoupment amount assessed as a result of the audit.

AB114,18,12 (5) Payment of auditors. A pharmacy benefit manager or entity conducting an audit may not pay an auditor employed by or contracted with the pharmacy benefit manager or entity based on a percentage of the amount recovered in an audit.

AB114,18,14 (6) Applicability. This section does not apply to an investigative audit that is initiated as a result of a credible allegation of fraud or willful misrepresentation.

AB114,18,19 649.40 Transparency reports. (1) Beginning on June 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, every pharmacy benefit manager shall submit to the commissioner, the joint committee on finance, and, under s. 13.172 (3), each standing committee of the legislature with jurisdiction over insurance a report that contains all of the following information from the previous calendar year:

AB114,18,22 (a) The aggregate amount of all rebates that the pharmacy benefit manager received from all pharmaceutical manufacturers by each health benefit plan sponsor and for all health benefit plan sponsors combined.

AB114,18,25 (b) The aggregate administrative fee amount that the pharmacy benefit manager received from all pharmaceutical manufacturers by each health benefit plan sponsor and for all health benefit plan sponsors combined.

AB114,19,4 (c) The aggregate rebate amount that the pharmacy benefit manager received from all pharmaceutical manufacturers but retained and did not pass through to health benefit plan sponsors and the percentage of the aggregate rebate amount that is retained rebates.

AB114,19,8 (2) The commissioner shall publish, within 60 days of receiving the report under sub. (1), on the office's Internet site information from the transparency report submitted under sub. (1). The commissioner shall publish the report information in a manner that does not disclose any trade secrets.

AB114,19,10 649.45 Network adequacy. A pharmacy benefit manager shall do all of the following:

AB114,19,15 (1) Provide a reasonably adequate and accessible pharmacy network for providing prescribed drugs or devices for a health benefit plan that allows convenient patient access to pharmacies within a reasonable distance from a plan participant's residence. A pharmacy benefit manager may not include any mail-order pharmacy in its calculations of network adequacy under this subsection.

AB114,19,19 (2) Submit to the commissioner, at the time and in the manner required by the commissioner, a pharmacy benefit manager network adequacy report describing the pharmacy benefit manager network and accessibility to the network for health benefit plan participants.

AB114,17 Section 17 . Nonstatutory provisions.

AB114,19,25 (1) Pharmacy benefit manager; compliance date. Notwithstanding s. 649.05, a pharmacy benefit manager is not required to register under s. 649.05 or to comply with ch. 649 until the date that is 180 days after the date of the promulgation of rules by the commissioner of insurance under s. 649.10, unless the commissioner specifies a different date on which registration or compliance is required.

AB114,20,13 (2) Rulemaking; reconciliation with step therapy bill. If 2019 Assembly Bill 24 or 2019 Senate Bill 26 is enacted and contains criteria for when a medical exception to a step therapy protocol must be granted, notwithstanding the requirement in s. 649.10 (2) to base rules on the prescription drug benefit management model act of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for the 2nd quarter of 2018, the commissioner of insurance shall incorporate in rules promulgated under s. 649.10 (2) (c) criteria for granting a medical exception that are identical to the criteria for granting a medical exception in 2019 Assembly Bill 24 or 2019 Senate Bill 26. The commissioner of insurance may incorporate in rules promulgated under s. 649.10 (2) (c) requirements and procedures for a medical exceptions process that do not conflict with 2019 Assembly Bill 24 or 2019 Senate Bill 26. If 2019 Assembly Bill 24 or 2019 Senate Bill 26 is not enacted in the 2019 legislative session, this subsection is void.

AB114,18 Section 18 . Initial applicability.

AB114,20,17 (1) For policies and plans containing provisions inconsistent with this act, this act first applies to policy or plan years beginning on January 1 of the year following the year in which this subsection takes effect.

AB114,20,19 (2) This act first applies to contracts with a pharmacy or pharmacist that are entered into, modified, or renewed on the effective date of this subsection.

AB114,19 Section 19. Effective date.

AB114,20,22 (1) This act takes effect on the first day of the 4th month beginning after publication.

AB114,20,23 (End)