WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Governor Tony Evers held a bill-signing ceremony at the Bridge Community Health Clinic in Wausau on Friday Morning.
The bipartisan bill focuses on increasing transparency in the prescription drug supply chain by creating new requirements for pharmacy benefit managers in Wisconsin. Evers details some of those new requirements for pharmacy benefit managers.
“PBMs play a critical role in the drug supply chain and determining out-of-pocket costs for patients, but frankly, they don’t have a lot of oversight or accountability. This bill takes important steps forward in increasing transparency and looking out for Wisconsin’s most vulnerable,”.
Evers says the bill allows pharmacists to “be the professionals that they are” to focus on filling prescriptions and helping patients. A pharmacy’s benefits manager could recommend generic versions of name-brand drugs or less expensive alternatives.
“The prescription drug supply chain can be a confusing and opaque system that often sends folks jumping through hoops just to access their life-saving medications. That’s just wrong,” Evers said.
The Governor also said more needs to be done to control drug prices. Those proposals are part of his biennial budget, which is being reviewed by the Republican-controlled state legislative. Significant changes to the spending plan are likely.
Evers thanked staff at the Bridge Community Clinic for helping people obtain the COVID-19 vaccine, “It is really important for me as Governor and frankly all the people in the State of Wisconsin, to make sure that anybody who is eligible to get a shot has that opportunity. Bridge Community Center does just a great job of catching people who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks.
“And that’s actually true also when it comes to reports of the vaccine. This institution here in the Wausau area does a great job and continues to do a great job, even after the vaccination period is over. I’m really glad to be back,”.
Senate Bill 3 passed the Wisconsin Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support. The only nay vote on the bill was Brookfield Senator Dale Kooyenga. Senate Bill 3 was one of 15 bills signed into law by Governor Evers Friday including the popular cocktails to go law.
He also suggested that the current statewide mask requirement, which expires on April 5, is likely to be extended. The governor’s current emergency order is the subject of a state Supreme Court case. A ruling hasn’t been announced yet.
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