HARRISBURG – The PA Senate approved a bipartisan bill to protect Pennsylvanians’ access to medications by providing relief to local pharmacies threatened by pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs. House Bill 1993 would ban harmful practices like patient steering, improve network adequacy requirements, increase transparency and accountability for PBMs through mandated annual reporting, and expand the services pharmacists can offer by allowing them to provide immunizations to a wider range of customers. Bill supporters say PBM pricing is causing community pharmacies to close, reducing Pennsylvanians’ access to nearby medicine. House Bill 1993 now heads to the state House for concurrence. If the House approves, the bill would go to the governor for his signature.
