2023 -- H 5872

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Noret, Casimiro, Solomon, Handy, and
Phillips

     Date Introduced: March 01, 2023

     Referred To: House Health & Human Services

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Legislative findings.

     The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

     Health insurance premiums are increasing in large part due to prescription drug expenses.

Drug manufacturers employ direct-to-consumer marketing strategies, including coupons, discount

cards, and similar offers, designed to conceal the true costs of high-priced drugs. Providing

information about lower cost alternatives, when available, will help eliminate an expense that drives

up the cost of health care for Rhode Islanders. Furthermore, where the drug makers are willing to

offer these ''discounts" to patients with insurance, they should provide similar discounts to help

those patients without coverage. This act addresses those cost concerns.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 27-20.8 of the General Laws entitled "Prescription Drug Benefits" is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     27-20.8-5. Fair marketing of prescription drugs.

     (a) A person who manufactures a prescription drug who offers or makes available to an

insured in this state any discount, repayment, product voucher, or similar mechanism that provides

a reduction in an individual's out-of-pocket expenses, associated with their health insurance, shall

permit such mechanism to be used by a person without health insurance coverage for that

prescription drug.

     (b) A person who manufactures a prescription drug who offers or makes available to an

insured in this state any discount, repayment, product voucher, or similar mechanism, shall publish

on the discount card, coupon, voucher, or similar material, and on any accompanying advertisement

and website, in an easily readable font and understandable format, a message that a generic

alternative has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that the

generic alternative may be available at a lower price, and instructions for the dispensing pharmacist,

to inform the consumer about all generic alternatives.

     (1) For the purpose of this section, a "generic alternative" means a drug designated to be

therapeutically equivalent, as indicated by the FDA's "Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic

Equivalence Evaluations."

     (2) Subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to a branded prescription drug until the

time that the first drug designated in the FDA's "Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic

Equivalence Evaluations" as therapeutically equivalent to that branded prescription drug has been

nationally available, or, the active ingredients of the drug are contained in products regulated by

the FDA, are available without prescription at a lower cost, and are not otherwise contraindicated

for treatment of the condition for which the prescription drug is approved.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO INSURANCE -- PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS

***

     This act would regulate the marketing of prescription drug manufacturers using direct-to-

consumer marketing strategies including coupons, discount cards and similar offers, to provide

information about lower cost alternatives and to make the discounts available to individuals without

health insurance.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2024.

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