AHF Commends Gov. Newsom for Signing PBM Reform Bill (SB 41, Weiner)

Legislation reforms will rein in drug middlemen abuses

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) thanked California Governor Gavin Newsom for signing SB 41, a bill which will further regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and prevent inflated prescription drug prices. AHF also thanked Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), who authored and successfully carried the bill.

According to a statement issued by the governor, SB 41 “... enacts a sweeping reform of the allowable business practices for PBMs, ... (and) represents the most aggressive effort in the country to lower prescription drug costs. California continues to lead the way in lowering costs, increasing transparency, and ensuring that the savings are passed on to payers and consumers.”

“For too long, PBMs have been inflating healthcare costs by sitting as a middleman between drug companies, health plans, and the pharmacies that dispense drugs to patients. Among other things, SB 41 prevents PBMs from profiting off of the spread between what health plans pay and pharmacies are reimbursed for their services. It also prevents PBMs from favoring their own pharmacies over pharmacies in the networks that the PBMs administer – a blatant conflict of interest. AHF has been in the forefront of PBM reform, and SB 41 represents a major victory that we and others fought long and hard for,” said Laura Boudreau, Chief of Operations, Risk Management and Quality Control for AHF. “Reining in PBM abuse remains an important issue nationwide, but today we celebrate passage of this bill and thank Senator Weiner for authoring and carrying this bill and Governor Newsom for signing it.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.6 million individuals across 49 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.