FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2020
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – On Tuesday, the New Hampshire Senate Commerce Committee introduced a crucial amendment to SB 686 that will establish a dynamically competitive marketplace for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) seeking to do business with the state. The amendment would establish a reverse auction in which PBMs vie for the state’s business over several rounds of transparent bidding. The savings that result from this reverse auction would be passed directly to New Hampshire taxpayers and the state’s public employee health plans. The PBM Accountability Project of New Hampshire, a coalition of Granite State labor, business, patient groups, health care providers, and municipalities, released the following statement:
"We commend members of the Senate Commerce Committee, particularly the bipartisan leadership of Senators Rosenwald and Guida, for taking critical steps to reducing the cost of prescription drugs for New Hampshire state employees and for opening the opportunity for municipalities, school districts, and others to share in these savings. Granite Staters go to the pharmacy counter every day not knowing what they might pay for their medications or why prices are so high. We need a fair marketplace that promotes dynamic, transparent competition among PBMs and eliminates the games that are often played at the expense of Granite Staters.
“The amendment creates a real opportunity for New Hampshire to harness the power of dynamic competition between PBMs and save New Hampshire tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Moreover, the PBM reverse auction is a sound fiscally responsible policy solution that has proven successful in the state of New Jersey. Since similar legislation was enacted there in 2016, New Jersey has conducted two PBM reverse auctions for health plans covering state and local government employees, as well as public school employees. The state is on track to save $2.5 billion in reduced prescription drug costs over a 5-year period (2018-2022). The New Jersey experience offers New Hampshire a proven bipartisan model to effectively drive down prescriptions drug costs without limiting access to medicines Granite Staters need.
“Granite Staters should pay no more than is absolutely necessary for their medications. The Commerce Committee’s work brings us closer to this goal."
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