the nevada independent logo
Support Our Work
Buy Indy Swag
2020 Presidential Candidate Tracker
Home
En Español
Elections
2018 Election Results
2018 Campaign Ads
Government
Legislature
Sisolak Promise Tracker
Congress
State
Local
Economy & Business
Gaming
Marijuana
Real Estate
Technology
Sex Industry
Education
The Education Landscape
Criminal Justice
Energy
Health Care
Immigration
Water & Land
Yucca Mountain
October 1
Fact Checks
Rurals
Polls
IndyBlog
Indy Explainers
Ralston Reports
Opinion

IndyTV
IndyMatters Podcast
Events
About
Team
Our Board
Donors
Contact Us
Tips
In the Media
Be an Indy Intern

En Español
Immigration
Legislature
Marijuana
Health Care
Cafecito con Luz y Michelle
Election 2020
Home
Support Our Work
Support Our Work
Buy Indy Swag
2020 Presidential Candidate Tracker
Home
En Español
Elections
2018 Election Results
2018 Campaign Ads
Government
Legislature
Sisolak Promise Tracker
Congress
State
Local
Economy & Business
Gaming
Marijuana
Real Estate
Technology
Sex Industry
Education
The Education Landscape
Criminal Justice
Energy
Health Care
Immigration
Water & Land
Yucca Mountain
October 1
Fact Checks
Rurals
Polls
IndyBlog
Indy Explainers
Ralston Reports
Opinion

IndyTV
IndyMatters Podcast
Events
About
Team
Our Board
Donors
Contact Us
Tips
In the Media
Be an Indy Intern

En Español
Immigration
Legislature
Marijuana
Health Care
Cafecito con Luz y Michelle
Election 2020
Home
Support Our Work
Health Care | Legislature

Sponsor attempts to head off Republican concerns with proposed amendment to major pharmaceutical bill

By
Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
May 13th, 2017 - 10:38am
Democratic Sen. Yvanna Cancela talks with a reporter before the first floor session of the 2017 legislative session at the Legislature in Carson City, NV. Photo by David Calvert.
Sponsor attempts to head off Republican concerns with proposed amendment to major pharmaceutical bill
Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
May 13th, 2017 - 10:38am

Diabetes drug manufacturers will have to disclose rebates they give to the middlemen in the drug pricing process known as pharmacy benefit managers under an amendment proposed by Democratic Sen. Yvanna Cancela to her pharmaceutical bill.

The amendment, discussed at a Senate Finance Committee hearing Saturday morning, seeks to address concerns Republican lawmakers raised last week that the previous version of the bill, SB265, did not include any transparency mandates for PBMs, the third-party administrators responsible for administering prescription drug programs for health plans. Drug companies have argued that although they often receive the blame for high drug prices, PBMs negotiate down the list price of prescription drugs and receive rebates — but they aren’t required to disclose how much of those savings are passed onto patients.

The two Republican senators on Senate Health and Human Services, Scott Hammond and Joe Hardy, both noted during a hearing on the bill last week their desire to see PBM transparency worked into the legislation, which currently requires diabetes drug companies to disclose certain costs related to researching, developing and manufacturing the drug. Hammond voted yes on the bill, hoping that the necessary changes would be made and he would remain a “yes” on the final Senate vote, while Hardy voted no with the hope that a change to the bill would get him to the yes.

“We’ve got to shine the light on the process, every step of the process,” Hammond said. “I think we need to go a little bit further.”

Cancela said the amendment, which mandates that diabetes drug manufacturers disclose the rebates they give to PBMs, is a direct response to the concerns of her colleagues on the committee.

“I heard the concerns from my colleagues in Senate Health and this language is a response to that,” Cancela said in a brief interview Saturday morning.

Nevada would have to amend its statutes dealing with trade secret law if it wanted to require PBMs to directly disclose the rebates they receive from drug manufacturers, information that is currently protected.

The amendment also makes another change to a portion of the bill dealing with transparency for pharmaceutical sales representatives to remove a potential cost to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The original version of the bill would have required the state to license pharmaceutical sales representatives, who would be required to submit annual reports about which doctors they visit, what samples they give out and whether they give any gifts to doctors. The amendment keeps in place the annual reporting requirement for sales representatives but removes the licensing requirement, instead mandating that pharmaceutical sales manufacturers provide a list to the Department of Health and Human Services of all their pharmaceutical sales representatives.

All state agencies have removed their fiscal notes on the bill, meaning that there is no estimated financial impact to the state from the legislation, after the changes in the most recent amendment, as well as previous changes to the bill that removed provisions that sought to control the prices of diabetes drugs.

Comment Policy (updated 10/4/19): Please keep your comments civil. We reserve the right to delete comments or ban users who engage in personal attacks, use an excess of profanity, make verifiably false statements or are otherwise nasty.
loading...

podcast iconINDYMATTERS PODCAST

    correct us
    ideas & story tips

    podcast iconCAFECITO CON LUZ Y MICHELLE

      EN ESPAÑOL

        @TheNVIndy ON TWITTER

        polilit logo
        Privacy Policy
        RSS
        Contact
        Support Our Work
        7455 Arroyo Crossing Pkwy Suite 220 Las Vegas, NV 89113
        The Nevada Independent is a project of: Nevada News Bureau, Inc. | Federal Tax ID 27-3192716
        © 2019 THE NEVADA INDEPENDENT

        Your browser does not support the audio element.