Utah society of health-system Pharmacists

2024 Legislative Session Information

TOP BILLS WE ARE WATCHING: 

Senate Bill 69 aimed to restore access to discounted 340B drug pricing for safety-net hospitals and clinics by addressing restrictions imposed by drug manufacturers on contract pharmacies. It planned to define terms like “340B drug” and “pharmaceutical entity” while banning interference with acquiring 340B drugs. Despite gaining statewide media attention, misinformation ads and other factors influenced legislators against it, leading to the Senate committee’s failure to recommend the bill.

However, House Bill 519 has been introduced to tackle a similar 340B issue. This new bill seeks to prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from imposing restrictions on 340B entities and allows the Public Employees' Benefit and Insurance Program (PEHP) to adjust its business practices to mitigate any financial impacts arising from this modification. As a committee, we support this bill and encourage you (as pharmacy professionals) to contact your senator and representative and share how the 340B pricing benefits patients and our state.

House Bill 257 will require the commissioner of the Insurance Department to assist in form creation if requested, ensure that pharmaceutical rebates in health benefit plans are used for specific purposes, require pharmacy benefit managers to offer options to self-funded health plans, and set parameters for the Public Employees Health Plan (PEHP) when contracting with pharmacy benefit managers. As a committee, we support this bill, which received a favorable recommendation and passed the House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee on 02/13/25. It has now been passed onto the Senate.

House Bill 52 was initially introduced to require a health benefit plan to count all payments paid on behalf of an enrollee towards the enrollee’s deductible. It was intended to assist patients in meeting their deductible and lowering copays faster. Substitute #1 and #2 changed the initial bill significantly by outlining insurer requirements to include drug or device discount coupons in calculating cost-sharing obligations, mandates the full value of coupons for the drug or device, and provides an exception for qualifying health benefit plans. As a committee, we support the initially introduced bill but DO NOT support the changes outlined in Substitute #1 and #2. We encourage you to contact your senator and representative to express your opposition to these changes.

House Bill 81 focuses on fluoride amendments, bans the addition of fluoride to public water systems, and mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services issue standing orders for fluoride supplements. It will also require pharmacists to provide patient counseling when dispensing fluoride supplements. Although we agree that choice should be a factor in this decision, as a committee, we oppose this bill as we believe it will cause health disparities to underserved populations because they may have a more challenging time accessing fluoride due to the additional financial burden from copays.

HOW TO FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR:

Enter your address on this website. It will tell you who your state senator and representative are and how to contact them. We encourage you to contact them and express your support or concern regarding various bills or topics.

WANT TO KNOW ABOUT OTHER BILLS?

You can see all bills considered for the 2025 General Session here. You can further sort by topic (i.e., Pharmacists) and Track bills, which will send email updates to your inbox when updates occur.

Please get in touch with the USHP Advocacy Committee at advocacy@ushp.org if you have any questions about the bills above, others that make their way through the session, or the legislative process. 

Thanks for your involvement!

Pharmacy Day at the Utah State Capital