Bill > H1176

This bill aims to promote comprehensive transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. It does this by: 1. Defining key terms like "early notice," "pharmaceutical manufacturing company," "pharmacy benefit manager," and "pipeline drugs" to provide more clarity on the entities and products covered. 2. Expanding the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission's authority to collect information and testimony from pharmaceutical manufacturing companies and pharmacy benefit managers on prescription drug costs and pricing factors. 3. Requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to disclose certain information, such as wholesale acquisition cost increases, research and development expenses, and marketing and pricing plans for new high-cost drugs. 4. Allowing the Commission to identify potential supplemental rebates for certain high-cost drugs and assess the reasonableness of a manufacturer's pricing. 5. Establishing a process for the Center for Health Information and Analysis to collect and analyze data from pharmacy benefit managers on rebates, fees, and other payments related to prescription drugs. 6. Expanding the Attorney General's authority to monitor and investigate trends in the pharmaceutical market. The overall goal is to increase transparency around pharmaceutical pricing and costs in order to inform policy decisions and potentially contain health care spending.

Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H1176