Legislative news

This morning, the Federal Workforce Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported out to the full committee an amended version of H.R. 4489, the FEHBP Prescription Drug Integrity, Transparency, and Cost Savings Act.

Chairman Stephen Lynch (D Mass) amended the original bill in the following principal respects:

• The amended bill no longer sets the pharmacy reimbursement rate at average manufacturers price. Instead at retail carriers will be charged the amount that the PBM pays the retail pharmacy and at mail the carrier will be charged the actual acquisition cost plus a dispensing fee not to exceed dispensing fees for the mail order pharmacy’s other lines of business.
• The amended bill is only applicable to experience rated carriers
• The amended bill’s drug substitution requirements do not apply to brand to generic substitutes.

I have heard that the full committee will consider this bill in April.

In other news, I ran across this Congressional Research Service report on federal employee benefits (including FEHBP) and same sex partnerships. The report discusses, among other things, cost estimates for the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, now pending before the House (H.R. 2517) and the Senate (S. 1102). The Senate bill was reported out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in December 2009. The House bill was reported out of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee on January 22, 2010. The House bill was placed on the Union Calendar on January 29, 2010, after the House Judiciary Committee and the House Administration Committee discharged the bill.