ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a significant victory for Georgia patients and community pharmacists, Gov. Brian Kemp yesterday signed into law two anti- “steering” bills, following significant advocacy by state pharmacists and the Georgia Pharmacy Association. Gov. Kemp signed HB 233, to prohibit

Doug Hoey

pharmacy benefit manager- or insurer-owned pharmacies from profiting off of prescriptions “steered” from their PBM and insurance affiliates; and HB 323, which restricts PBM and insurer patient “steering,” strengthens anti-mandatory mail order, adds additional audit protections, and restricts mining of patient data.

National Community Pharmacists Association chief executive officer and pharmacist B. Douglas Hoey, issued the following statement after these bills were signed into law:

“States across the country are taking action to rein in PBM middlemen, and this week’s developments in Georgia are more monumental progress. Time and time again we hear of PBMs steering consumers to their own pharmacies or to PBM-owned mail order houses, quite often to the detriment of the very patients whose care they purport to help manage. The National Community Pharmacists Association applauds Governor Kemp and legislators in Georgia for seeking to ensure patients can access quality care at community pharmacies, and we strongly encourage other policymakers to see these bills as models for pro-patient, pro-community pharmacy opportunities worthy of consideration in their states.”