Legislation


SB 17 – California

Status: Enacted
Year Introduced: 2017
Link: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB17&search_keywords=healthPrescription+drugs

Prescription Drug Pricing – Notification: This bill would require health care service plans or health insurers that file rate information with the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) and the Department of Insurance (DOI) to report , on a date no later than the reporting of the rate information, specified cost information regarding covered prescription drugs, including generic drugs, brand name drugs, and specialty drugs, dispensed as provided. DMHC and DOI would be required to compile the reported information into a report for the public and legislators that demonstrates the overall impact of drug costs on health care premiums and publish the reports on their Internet Web sites by January 1 of each year. Except for the report, DMHC and DOI would be required to keep confidential all information provided pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also require health care service plans or health insurers that file the above-described rate information to disclose to DMHC and DOI with the rate information specified information regarding the relation of prescription drug costs to plan or insurer spending and premium charges. Existing law requires the DMHC and DOI, as applicable, to conduct an annual public meeting regarding large group rates within 3 months of posting that information. The bill would instead require DMHC and DOI to conduct an annual public meeting within 4 months of posting the rate information described above. The bill would require a manufacturer of a prescription drug with a wholesale acquisition cost of more than $40 that is purchased or reimbursed by specified purchasers, including state agencies, health care service plans, health insurers, and pharmacy benefit managers, to notify the purchaser of an increase in the wholesale acquisition cost of a prescription drug if the increase in the wholesale acquisition cost for a course of therapy, as defined, exceeds a specified threshold. The bill would require that notice to be given at least 60 days prior to the planned effective date of the increase. Commencing no earlier than January 1, 2019, the bill would require the manufacturer to notify the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) of specified information relating to that increase in wholesale acquisition cost on a quarterly basis at a time and in a format prescribed by the office. The bill would require the manufacturer to notify OSHPD of specified information relating to the wholesale acquisition cost, marketing, and usage of a new prescription drug if the cost exceeds a specified threshold, and would require OSHPD to publish that information on its Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would require OSHPD to enforce the provisions requiring manufacturer reporting to OSHPD and would subject a manufacturer to liability for a civil penalty if the information described above is not reported. The bill would require the California Research Bureau to report to the Legislature on the implementation of these provisions, and would subject these provisions to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, as specified.


Return to Database Search

© 2018- The SLIHCQ DatabaseInitial funding for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Associated Litigation:

PhRMA v. David
District Court: Eastern District of California    Status: Decided
PhRMA challenged California’s drug price transparency law SB 17 alleging that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause, the First Amendment, and the Due Process Clause. SB 17, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed 10/9/17, requires pharmaceutical companies to notify insurers and government health plans 60 days in …



Leave A Comment