Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 605, Sec. 9. (SB 41) Effective January 1, 2026.
A pharmacy benefit manager shall not do any of the following:
(a)Require a plan participant to use only an affiliated pharmacy if there are nonaffiliated pharmacies in the network.
(b)Financially induce a plan participant to transfer a prescription only to an affiliated pharmacy if there are nonaffiliated pharmacies in the network.
(c)Require a nonaffiliated pharmacy to transfer a prescription to an affiliated pharmacy if there are nonaffiliated pharmacies in the network. This section does not prevent a purchaser or pharmacy benefit manager from
offering to plan participants financial incentives to use a particular pharmacy, such as lower copays, coinsurance, or any other cost sharing for a prescription when the prescription is dispensed.
(d)Unreasonably restrict a plan participant from using a particular contracted pharmacy for the purpose of receiving pharmacist services covered by the plan participant’s contract or policy.
(e)Communicate to or mislead a plan participant, in any manner, that the plan participant is required to have a prescription dispensed at, or pharmacy services provided by, a particular affiliated pharmacy or pharmacies if there are other nonaffiliated pharmacies that have the ability to dispense the medication or provide the services and are also in network.
(f)Deny a nonaffiliated contract pharmacy the opportunity to participate in a pharmacy benefit manager network as preferred participation status if the pharmacy is willing to accept the same terms and conditions that the pharmacy benefit manager has established for affiliated pharmacies as a condition of preferred network participation status.
Cite this section
Other sections in Article 6.1 - Pharmacy Benefit Managers