Bill Text: NY A07789 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to establishing the "340B prescription drug anti-discrimination act"; prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers from discriminating against covered entities and New York state pharmacies based on participation in the drug discount program authorized by section 340B of the federal public health service act.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to health [A07789 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A07789-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7789

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 15, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Health

        AN  ACT  to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing the
          340B prescription drug anti-discrimination act

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  the "340B prescription drug anti-discrimination act".
     3    § 2. Declaration of purpose. Section 340B of the federal public health
     4  service act requires pharmaceutical manufacturers,  as  a  condition  of
     5  participation  in  Medicare and Medicaid, to provide discounts on outpa-
     6  tient drugs to certain providers that serve a high  number  of  Medicaid
     7  patients.  These  cost  savings  enable  safety-net providers to stretch
     8  scarce resources as far as  possible  in  providing  more  comprehensive
     9  services to their communities.
    10    In  recent  years,  some pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit
    11  managers have imposed certain requirements and limitations on  New  York
    12  340B  covered entities, thus depriving such entities of much-needed cost
    13  savings. These practices discriminate against 340B covered entities  and
    14  their pharmacy partners, and by extension the patients they serve. These
    15  discriminatory practices have the effect of limiting those covered enti-
    16  ties' ability to care for their communities fully and comprehensively.
    17    There  is  a need for the state to prevent erosion of our 340B covered
    18  entities' 340B cost savings, with its  concomitant  impacts  on  patient
    19  access  to  health  care  services. This act is intended to achieve that
    20  goal by prohibiting pharmaceutical companies, among other entities, from
    21  engaging in practices that discriminate against  340B  covered  entities
    22  and their pharmacy partners.
    23    § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 280-d to
    24  read as follows:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11664-01-3
        A. 7789                             2

     1    § 280-d. Prescription drug discrimination prohibited.  1. Definitions.
     2  (a)  "340B  program"  shall mean the drug discount program authorized by
     3  section 340B of the federal public  health  service  act  (42  U.S.C.  §
     4  256b).
     5    (b) "Covered entity" shall:
     6    (i) have the same meaning as is set forth in section 340B(a)(4) of the
     7  federal public health service act (42 U.S.C. § 256b);
     8    (ii) mean an entity authorized to participate in the 340B program; and
     9    (iii)  include  New York state pharmacies that receive drugs purchased
    10  under a contract pharmacy arrangement with a covered entity.
    11    (c) "Dispensing" shall include a pharmacy's entire distribution  proc-
    12  ess,  including  the ordering, purchasing, delivering, receipt, and sale
    13  of drugs, and any other aspect of  such  distribution  process  that  an
    14  entity may seek to deny, prohibit, condition, or otherwise limit.
    15    (d)  "Pharmacy" shall have the same meaning as is set forth in section
    16  sixty-eight hundred two of the education law.
    17    2. Prohibition of discriminatory practice. No  entity,  including  but
    18  not  limited to a pharmaceutical manufacturer or pharmacy benefit manag-
    19  er, shall:
    20    (a) deny, prohibit, condition, or otherwise limit  the  dispensing  of
    21  drugs from a covered entity;
    22    (b) deny access to drugs manufactured by a pharmaceutical manufacturer
    23  to  a covered entity based on such covered entity's participation in the
    24  340B program;
    25    (c)  impose  requirements,  exclusions,  reimbursement  terms,   fees,
    26  audits,  claim  identification,  or other conditions on a covered entity
    27  that differ from  the  requirements,  exclusions,  reimbursement  terms,
    28  fees, audits, claim identification, or other conditions applied to enti-
    29  ties that do not participate in the 340B program.
    30    3.  Enforcement.  (a)  Any provision of a contract that is contrary to
    31  this act shall be void and unenforceable.
    32    (b) The commissioner shall have the authority to impose a civil  mone-
    33  tary  penalty  pursuant  to section twelve of this chapter on any entity
    34  that violates the provisions of this act.
    35    (c) The commissioner shall refer any matters in which a civil monetary
    36  penalty is being imposed to the education department and the  office  of
    37  the attorney general for review.
    38    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.