HELENA — Montana lawmakers are working on several bills to help rein in the cost of prescription drugs, mostly focusing on pharmacy benefit managers — the middlemen who negotiate prices with drug manufacturers.
Gov. Steve Bullock said Wednesday he hopes to get all of the bills early enough to take a comprehensive look and see which offer the best regulation.
Bullock already has signed a bill that would prevent pharmacy benefit managers from charging pharmacies unexpected fees while allowing pharmacists to tell patients if they could buy a drug at a lower cost than their insurance copayment.
A bill that faces a final vote in the House Thursday would allow insurance companies that sell policies through the marketplace to negotiate better contracts with pharmacy benefit managers.
Another bill targets pharmaceutical manufacturers by requiring them to justify some drug costs.