HB 18-1284

HB 18-1284, also known as the "Patient Drug Costs Savings Act," requires pharmacies and insurance companies to provide patients with clear information about their prescription costs and more affordable drug alternatives. This means that when you go to pick up a prescription, the pharmacist must tell you how much it will cost after your insurance covers part of it, and they have to inform you if there are cheaper but equally effective drugs available. The bill also stops pharmacies from being penalized by insurance companies for giving this information to patients. Since the bill has been signed into law, it is now enforceable, meaning that pharmacies and insurance companies must follow these rules to comply with Colorado state law.

Official Summary

The bill enacts the 'Patient Drug Costs Savings Act' (act). The act prohibits a carrier that has a contract with a pharmacy or pharmacist, or a pharmacy benefit management firm acting on behalf of a carrier, from: Prohibiting a pharmacy or pharmacist from, or penalizing a pharmacy or pharmacist for, providing a covered person information on the amount of the covered person's cost share for the covered person's prescription drug and the clinical efficacy of any more affordable alternative drugs that are therapeutically equivalent; or Requiring a pharmacy to charge or collect a copayment from a covered person that exceeds the total submitted charges by the network pharmacy. The act requires the commissioner of insurance to act when the commissioner determines that a carrier or pharmacy benefit management firm has not complied with the above prohibitions. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

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