President Donald Trump signed S. 2553 and S. 2554 Wednesday, at a ceremony in the White House. (Photo: White House)
President Donald Trump has signed two bills that could help increase pharmacists' ability to help customers find the cheapest suitable drugs.
The two bills are S. 2553 — the "Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018″ bill — and S. 2554. S. 2554 is the "Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act" bill.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., introduced S. 2553.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced S. 2554.
What would S. 2553 and S. 2554 do?
Supporters of S. 2553 and S. 2554 say the bills would prohibit health plan or drug plans from imposing drug cost communication "gag clauses" on pharmacists.
S. 2553 prohibits a Medicare Advantage plan provider or a provider of a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan from restricting the ability of a pharmacy to inform "an enrollee in such plan of any differential between the negotiated price of, or copayment or coinsurance for, the drug or biological to the enrollee under the plan and a lower price the individual would pay for the drug or biological if the enrollee obtained the drug without using any health insurance coverage.".
The effective date for the Know the Lowest Price Act is for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2020.
S. 2554 prohibits a "group health plan or health insurance issuer" from restricting, directly or indirectly, "any pharmacy that dispenses a prescription drug to an enrollee in the plan or coverage from informing ,,,an enrollee of any differential between the enrollee's out-of-pocket cost under the plan or coverage with respect to acquisition of the drug and the amount an individual would pay for acquisition of the drug without using any health plan or health insurance coverage."
S. 2554 also seeks to "ensure that any entity that provides pharmacy benefits management services under a contract with any such health plan or health insurance coverage does not, with respect to such plan or coverage, restrict, directly or indirectly, a pharmacy that dispenses a prescription drug from informing (or penalize such pharmacy for informing) an enrollee of any differential between the enrollee's out-of-pocket cost under the plan or coverage with respect to acquisition of the drug and the amount an individual would pay for acquisition of the drug without using any health plan or health insurance coverage."
