HB1554 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 08132 DRJ 40966 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB1554

Introduced 2/10/2005, by Rep. Aaron Schock

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Prescription Drug Price Finder Act. Requires the Department on Aging to establish and maintain an online clearinghouse to be known as the State of Illinois Prescription Drug Price Finder. Provides that the Drug Price Finder shall identify the 25 most commonly prescribed drugs in Illinois, as reported by pharmacies to the Department of Public Aid, and their prices. Provides that the Department on Aging shall enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Public Aid and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for the purpose of implementing the Drug Price Finder program. Provides that any licensed pharmacist or pharmacy in the State may participate in the Drug Price Finder program, and requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to cooperate with the Department on Aging in encouraging pharmacists and pharmacies to participate in the program. Sets forth the information that must be made available on the Drug Price Finder Web site, and requires the Department on Aging to update the information contained on the Drug Price Finder Web site every 2 months. Requires that the Drug Price Finder program be fully operational within 6 months after the effective date of the Act. Requires the Department on Aging to evaluate the Drug Price Finder program after 18 months and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Prescription Drug Price Finder Act.

Section 5. State of Illinois Prescription Drug Price Finder.

(a) The Department on Aging shall establish and maintain an online clearinghouse to be known as the State of Illinois Prescription Drug Price Finder ("the Drug Price Finder"). The Department shall maintain the Drug Price Finder as part of the Department's official Web site as provided in Section 20. The Drug Price Finder shall identify the 25 most commonly prescribed drugs in Illinois and their usual and customary prices, as reported to the Department of Public Aid as provided in Section 10.

(b) The Department on Aging shall enter into an interagency agreement with the Department of Public Aid and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for the purpose of implementing the Drug Price Finder program. The agreement shall ensure that in all exchanges of information under this Act, the confidentiality of patient identifying information is maintained.

Section 10. Drug price reporting.

(a) The Department on Aging, through an interagency agreement with the Department of Public Aid, shall acquire and compile the information necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. A pharmacy shall report information concerning the prescription drugs dispensed by the pharmacy and the pharmacy's usual and customary price for each such drug in the form and manner prescribed by the Department of Public Aid in rules, but so far as practicable, the information shall be reported in connection with the pharmacy's requests for reimbursement under the medical assistance program under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code.

(b) For purposes of this Act, a pharmacy's "usual and customary" price for a drug means the price that a cash-paying consumer without insurance to cover the cost of the drug would pay for the drug. The "usual and customary" price does not include any discount that the pharmacy may offer to senior citizens or to other persons.

(c) From the information reported by pharmacies under this Section, the Department of Public Aid shall compile a list of the 25 most commonly prescribed drugs and their usual and customary prices and shall transmit that information to the Department on Aging. The Department of Public Aid shall transmit this information to the Department on Aging from time to time as specified in the interagency agreement so that the Department on Aging may update the information in the Drug Price Finder as required under Section 20.

Section 15. Participating pharmacies. Any licensed pharmacist or pharmacy in the State may participate in the Drug Price Finder program. Pharmacies that do not participate in the program of medical assistance under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code ("non-Medicaid pharmacies") may voluntarily submit their usual and customary prices of prescription drugs to the Department of Public Aid. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall verify to the Department on Aging the licensure status of non-Medicaid pharmacies participating in the Drug Price Finder program.

Section 20. Drug Price Finder Web site.

(a) The Drug Price Finder Web site must contain at least the following information for each of the 25 most commonly used prescription drugs reported to the Department of Public Aid as provided in Section 10:

(1) The drug's brand name.

(2) The drug's usual and customary price.

(3) The drug's generic name.

(4) The drug's strength, based on a typical 30-day supply.

(5) The quantity of the drug prescribed, based on a typical 30-day supply.

(6) The condition or conditions for which the drug is typically prescribed as treatment.

(b) The Drug Price Finder Web site must be interactive and must allow a user to perform a variety of searches to obtain information concerning a particular prescription drug (including different drug strengths, if applicable), a particular pharmacy, or a particular geographic location in the State (including searches by county, municipality, or zip code). For each prescription drug listed in the Drug Price Finder, the search results shall identify the pharmacies that dispensed that drug during the applicable period and each such pharmacy's usual and customary price for the drug during that period. For each prescription drug listed in the Drug Price Finder, the Web site must allow a user to access the information specified in subsection (a) of this Section.

(c) The Department on Aging shall update the information contained on the Drug Price Finder Web site every 2 months.

Section 25. Operation of program; evaluation and report.

(a) The Department on Aging must ensure that the Drug Price Finder program is fully operational within 6 months after the effective date of this Act.

(b) Eighteen months after the Drug Price Finder program begins operation, the Department on Aging shall evaluate the program and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.