Don’t stop pharmacy law, state asks court

The Arkansas attorney general’s office has asked a federal judge to deny a request from a national group of pharmacy benefit managers to stop the enforcement of a new law requiring pharmacies to be reimbursed at or above the pharmacy’s cost of drugs.

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group representing companies that administer prescription drug benefit plans, filed suit Aug. 13 challenging the constitutionality of the new law, Act 900 of 2015.

The law, which took effect July 22, is similar to laws passed in 24 other states so far. It is supported by pharmacists, who say prices for generic drugs at the wholesale level increase so rapidly that by the time the pharmacists dispense the drug and seek reimbursement, the benefits administrators haven’t adjusted their reimbursement rates accordingly. The result is that the administrators often insist on reimbursing pharmacies at the drug’s older, lower price.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of 11 pharmacy benefits managers, says the new law is allowing pharmacists to get reimbursed at the maximum allowable cost for each drug, regardless of whether the pharmacy acquires the drug for less or receives rebates or discounts not reflected on the wholesaler’s or manufacturer’s invoice. In short, they say, the new law “guarantees Arkansas pharmacists a profit on every MAC [maximum allowable cost] script filled.”

In the state’s response, filed Wednesday, to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the law, Assistant Attorney General Shawn Johnson noted that many of the association’s members have been the subject of complaints to the attorney general’s office.

Johnson argued that the group has not demonstrated, and cannot demonstrate, that its members will suffer irreparable harm if an injunction isn’t granted, and cannot demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of the lawsuit. He also argued that the public interest weighs against an injunction.

The injunction request is pending before Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller.