§5A-3C-5 Pharmaceutical discount program; establishment; eligible individuals; discount pass through; terms. - West Virginia Statutes

§5A-3C-5. Pharmaceutical discount program; establishment; eligible individuals; discount pass through; terms.
There is hereby established a discount drug program to provide low-income, uninsured individuals with access to prescription drugs from participating brand pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists through either a state-sponsored discount card program or a program that extends current brand pharmaceutical manufacturer prescription drug assistance programs:

(a) The state hereby establishes a state-sponsored prescription drug discount card program for certain eligible residents of West Virginia:

(1) Eligible individuals include uninsured residents of West Virginia up to two hundred per cent of the federal poverty guideline who have not been covered by a prescription drug program, whether public or private, at least six months prior to applying to the discount card program;

(2) The state may negotiate voluntary discounts with brand pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacists: Provided, That the total discount received from the manufacturer shall pass through to the eligible resident;

(3) Failure of a brand pharmaceutical manufacturer to participate in the voluntary discount card program will not result in prior authorization on drugs in the medicaid program which would not otherwise be subject to prior authorization but for the failure of the manufacturer to participate in this program; and

(4) The state shall not establish a formulary or preferred drug list as part of the discount card program.

(b) The brand pharmaceutical manufacturers may extend existing prescription drug assistance programs to eligible residents of West Virginia. Eligible individuals include uninsured residents of West Virginia up to two hundred percent of the federal poverty level who have not been covered by a prescription drug program, whether public or private, at least six months prior to applying to the program.

(c) The program established under this section shall be structured so that a member presenting a discount card at a participating pharmacy will receive the full benefit of the pharmacy discount, as well as the manufacturer's discount, at a point of sale transaction. The program, or the pharmacy benefit manager contracted by the program, shall coordinate the drug discount information provided by participating pharmacies and manufacturers so that the available drug discounts are provided to the member at the point of sale.

(d) Manufacturers participating in the voluntary program established under this section shall cooperate with the program, or the pharmacy benefit manager contracted by the program, to provide the current list of drugs and the percentage of discount from the AWP for such drugs, or the rebates that the manufacturer will provide under the program. It is the intent of this program that adequate drug price and discount or rebate information be provided by the manufacturer, such that the program and participating pharmacies will have available such drug prices and discounts or rebates at a point of sale pharmaceutical drug transaction. Retail pharmacies will be responsible for no more than fifty percent of the discount offered by the manufacturer to the participant.

(1) Pharmacies participating in the voluntary program(s) established under this section will be responsible for no more than fifty percent of the discount offered by the manufacturer to the participant, and be paid a dispensing fee of no more than three dollars and fifty cents per prescription with regard to prescriptions filled under the program(s).

(2) Upon the presentation of a valid discount card, payment for the prescription and otherwise meeting appropriate criteria to have their prescription filled, the cardholder will have their prescription filled by a participating pharmacy. To accomplish the transaction, the participating pharmacy shall electronically transmit the transaction to the program or pharmacy benefit manager contracted by the program for processing. The program, or the program's pharmacy benefit manager, shall determine the discounted cost of the drug, including the discount provided, the discount provided by the pharmacy, the discount or rebate provided by the manufacturer, the pharmacy dispensing fee, and any pharmacy benefit manager transaction fee. The program, or the program's pharmacy benefit manager, shall then transmit to the manufacturer an electronic statement of the amount the manufacturer owes on the transaction to cover the manufacturer's discount or rebate and the program's or the pharmacy benefit manager's processing fee. The manufacturer shall, in turn, at least every fourteen days, transmit such monetary amounts for the transaction to the program, or the program's pharmacy benefit manager, and the program, or the program's pharmacy benefit manager, shall pass such discount or rebate amounts back to the participating pharmacy which originated the transaction immediately.

(e) The pharmaceutical manufacturers shall report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance on a monthly basis all activities related to the implementation of this program including the number of citizens serviced and the services provided, as well as, the benefits, the costs and the discounts obtained.