Senate passes Ujifusa bill to protect

patients’ pharmacy options

 

STATE HOUSE – The Senate today passed a bill sponsored by Sen. Linda Ujifusa that protects patients from an insurance scheme called “white bagging” that interferes with how prescribed drugs are delivered and administered.

White bagging refers to a practice where insurers require patients to get their prescriptions from insurer-affiliated pharmacies that are often mail order-only. The bill (2023-S 0870) would prohibit this practice.

Traditionally, if a patient needs a clinician-administered medication, such as a chemotherapy drug, the patient goes to the hospital where the clinician orders the needed drug from the on-site pharmacy and administers the medication.

According to the American Hospital Association, white bagging causes multiple problems. The practice is not sensitive to necessary changes in patient care plans. A health care provider often decides the patient needs a different dosage or a different drug after reviewing a patient’s labs or measurements on the day of treatment. Even though the hospital has these medications on site at their own pharmacy, they must wait for the drug to arrive from the specialty pharmacy or not get reimbursed. In addition, once filled and labeled, expensive specialty drugs cannot be substituted or modified. If the care plan is changed, often the drugs must be discarded.

Senator Ujifusa’s bill would prohibit insurers or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from engaging in white bagging practices. It would ensure patients could choose which pharmacy they want to obtain their medications from and ensure in-network providers (like hospitals) would get paid for providing services, regardless of which pharmacy they obtained the medications from.

Three states (Louisiana, Minnesota and Vermont) currently have legislation prohibiting white bagging and nine other states are considering legislation to join them. 

“White bagging saves middlemen money, but creates waste, barriers to care and disruptions to the patient-provider relationship,” said Senator Ujifusa (D-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol). “Across the country, state legislators are looking to audit and rein in insurers and their PBMs. This bill shows Rhode Island is prepared to join the movement to restrain vertically integrated middlemen conglomerates from making money by limiting provider care for patients.”

The bill now heads to the House for consideration.

 

A key report shows wholesale inflation slowed last month. The July Producer Price Index shows a rise of zero-point-one percent. The PPI measures prices that businesses receive for goods and services. Economists had been expecting a slightly higher increase, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.        Over one-point-three million people tuned into Elon Musk's conversation with former President Trump on X last night. Some technical issues delayed the conversation, but the pair still spoke for over two hours. They discussed the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania, immigration, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the threat of global warming, and more.        Voters are heading to the polls for primary elections in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, and Wisconsin today. In Minnesota, progressive Congresswoman Ilhan Omar will defend her seat against former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. The contest comes after two other members of the so-called progressive "Squad," Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, lost their Democratic primaries this cycle.        Tropical Storm Ernesto isn't expected to hit the U.S. mainland as it heads up the Atlantic Ocean. Current forecasts show the storm will bring heavy rain and flooding to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands today. The National Hurricane Center says Ernesto will then head northward and into the Atlantic.        A former Colorado clerk is facing up to 22 years in prison for election tampering. Tina Peters was convicted yesterday and will be sentenced in October. Prosecutors argued she let an unauthorized person access Mesa County's voting equipment in 2021 and make a copy of hard drives, as well as pictures of passwords, and then tried to cover it up.        U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles will not have her appeal heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee said it would take away her bronze medal because of a scoring error. Monday, USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it was notified that CAS rules don't allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered.