US EditionPBM reform bill amended, advanced through Iowa Senate
- The Iowa Senate approved Senate File 383 on Monday, April 29, 2025, in Des Moines to regulate pharmacy benefit managers .
- The bill responds to rising prescription drug costs and pharmacy closures, especially in rural Iowa, by limiting PBM practices that affect pharmacies and consumers.
- The legislation requires all drug contracts to use pass-through pricing, mandates reimbursement to smaller pharmacies at or above state averages, and bans PBMs from restricting pharmacy choice or forcing mail-order purchases.
- Senator Mike Klimesh noted that 36 states prohibit PBM restrictions on pharmacist choice, 32 ban mail-order mandates, and 11 set minimum reimbursement standards, adding, "Nothing in this bill is uncharted territory."
- The bill passed 36-14 with bipartisan support and now awaits action in the Iowa House, potentially shaping pharmacy access and drug cost transparency statewide.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Mason City Globe Gazette
Iowa bill addressing pharmacy benefit managers tailored to help smaller pharmacies
Legislation designed to constrain prescription drug costs and protect rural pharmacies by regulating third-party health care companies known as pharmacy benefit managers is once again moving in the Iowa Capitol.
Bill regulating pharmacy benefit managers passes Iowa Senate • Iowa Capital Dispatch
The Iowa Senate passed legislation Monday increasing regulation on pharmacy benefit managers. (Photo by Getty Images)The Iowa Senate passed a bill setting new standards for pharmacy benefit managers that lawmakers said will help keep rural pharmacies in business and lower the cost of prescription drugs. Senate File 383, passed 36-14, is the legislation passed through the committee process earlier this year limiting certain PBM business practices…
PBM reform bill amended, advanced through Iowa Senate
DES MOINES, Iowa -- After multiple attempts over a span of several general assemblies, the bill to add regulations in the state’s pharmaceutical industry passed through the Iowa Senate on Monday afternoon. The bill passed through the chamber by a vote of 36 to 14, with an amendment to the bill added that sends it back to the Iowa House. The bill adds regulations to pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, requiring them to reimburse pharmacies base…
Updated Comprehensive Analysis from Leading Economists Confirms PBMs Deliver Value for Plan Sponsors, Support Pharmacies
PBMs Support Non-Affiliated Pharmacies, Provide Higher Reimbursement (Washington, D.C.) — The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement on the release of an updated report from Dennis W. Carlton, Ph.D., Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, one of the leading industrial organization economists in the country, and former chief economist at the U.S. Department …
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