Bill > A01720

This bill establishes patient safety and quality assurance measures for medication distribution by insurers, specifically addressing "brown bagging" and "white bagging" practices. Brown bagging occurs when patients are required to transport medications from a designated pharmacy to their healthcare provider, while white bagging involves an insurer-designated pharmacy sending medications directly to a healthcare facility. The bill prohibits insurers, insurance corporations, and health care plans from requiring patients to transport medications or mandating the use of an insurer-designated pharmacy that could compromise patient safety. The legislation mandates that if an insurer wants to use a designated pharmacy to distribute patient-specific medications to a healthcare provider, they must establish a comprehensive agreement that includes multiple patient protection measures. These include providing 90 days' notice to providers, offering same-day medication delivery, ensuring 24/7 pharmacist access, maintaining proper medication temperature and handling, providing medication pedigree documentation, demonstrating compliance with FDA requirements, and offering site-neutral payment to healthcare providers. The bill also creates exceptions for specific medications requiring sterile compounding or patient-specific dosing based on same-day lab results. Importantly, the legislation allows insurers to offer coverage for home infusion pharmacies for intravenous drugs but cannot require their use, prioritizing patient and provider choice in medication administration.

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https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A1720