Gov. Jeff Landry
BATON ROUGE — Louisiana lawmakers killed a bill last week on proposed pharmacy ownership restrictions favored by Gov. Jeff Landry, who suggested he may call a special legislative session this summer to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, the state’s attorney general has vowed to investigate CVS Pharmacy’s lobbying campaign against the pharmacy bill.
The succession of events began last week when House Bill 358 was hastily assembled in an effort supporters characterized as a bid to lower drug prices. The bill, aimed at avoiding antitrust issues, would have prevented the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy from renewing permits for pharmacies that are wholly or partially owned by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
PBMs are intermediaries dealing with insurers, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. Critics have accused PBMs of actions that boost drug prices and favor pharmacies owned by corporations, such as CVS.
But the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) criticized HB 358 in a statement last week, saying that it would force a large number of pharmacy closures in the state and disrupt medical care for vulnerable patients, including veterans and seniors.
“With two days left in the legislative session, a small group of legislators, behind closed doors, put language in the bill that could result in widespread reduced access to medications,” the PCMA said in a June 12 statement. “The forced pharmacy closure policy received no public hearing in either chamber of the Louisiana Legislature.”
Murrill
CVS also weighed in on the legislative debate. The company sent a text message to state employees and their families in a bid to lobby against the measure, according to Attorney General Liz Murrill.
“My office will be investigating whether CVS Pharmacy improperly appropriated to its own use the personal information of OGB (Office of Group Benefits) members and will take legal action if it did,” Murrill said, who sent the company a cease-and-desist order. “This is not an appropriate use of personal information obtained through a state contract."
A letter sent to Murrill from Landry last week noted that CVS/Caremark serves as the PBM for thousands of OGB members in Louisiana. Contact information for the OGB members was used improperly by CVS to lobby its patients about HB 358 through “half-truths” and scare tactics, Landry said.
But CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault defended the company’s actions in an email to the Louisiana Record.
“We believe we had a responsibility to inform our customers of misguided legislation that sought to shutter their trusted pharmacy, and we acted accordingly,” Thibault said. “Our communication with our customers, patients and members of our community was consistent with the law.”
The company continues to be focused on lowering drug costs and improved access to health care, she said. CVS hopes to work productively with lawmakers and other elected officials in Louisiana in the future on issues of affordability and promoting the operations of community pharmacies, according to Thibault.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Landry raised the possibility of a special session to ensure Louisianans have access to affordable medications.
“If we fail to pass the meaningful first steps that the House passed (on June 11), we can come back over the summer to finish it!” he said.
The state Senate, however, allowed the amended HB 358 to die as lawmakers passed an alternative measure giving the state’s insurance commissioner the power to examine PBM records and financial data to better assure reimbursements paid to pharmacists and pharmacies are reasonable. HB 358 would not have taken effect until Jan. 1, 2027.
