ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores hailed the enactment of legislation in Kentucky that would require transparency in pharmacy audit processes conducted by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

NACDS said Wednesday that the state law (H.B. 349) would prohibit PBMs from seeking to recoup payments through pharmacy audits when there’s no evidence of fraud.

Sponsored by Kentucky House Majority Whip Tommy Thompson (D.), the law also includes reasonable time frames and procedures as well as bolsters standards that help prevent PBMs from using their leverage "at the expense of patients and community pharmacies," according to NACDS.

"We thank Gov. Steve Beshear for signing this important pro-patient, pro-pharmacy legislation to curb tactics used by some PBMs that take away from the important business of improving patient health and making health care delivery more efficient and cost-effective," NACDS president and chief executive Steve Anderson said in a statement. "We thank Rep. Thompson, the Kentucky Retail Federation and the Kentucky Pharmacists Association for their leadership in helping to ensure transparency in the PBM audit process."

NACDS added that it has endorsed federal legislation that seeks to preserve pharmacy choice for patients and takes further steps to prevent threats to pharmacy patient care. The association said the Pharmacy Competition and Consumer Choice Act — S. 1058 and H.R. 1971, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor (D., Ark.) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.), respectively — includes provisions requiring transparency by PBMs in pharmacy audits.