Utah lawmakers are moving to ban “gag clauses” that prohibit pharmacists from telling customers when they could save money by paying cash for prescriptions rather than using their health insurance.
The Senate voted 25-0 on Wednesday to pass SB208, and sent it to the House.
Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, a pharmacist, is sponsoring the bill to try to stop what he says is an occasional abuse that he sees.
Because of clauses in contracts with companies that manage drug benefits, “The pharmacist is precluded from telling the patient that if you just pay cash, you would only have to pay $25 instead of $90” for a prescription drug on occasion.
“This doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it stands out,” he said.
He said he is unsure why the cost by using insurance is sometimes more than the cash cost, but said it may be from some plans charging cheap premiums up front — and trying to make it up with higher charges later.
“It certainly gives the good players a bad name,” Vickers said. “That’s the so-called gag order, and there has been a fair amount of press about it” nationally.
At least six states have adopted laws to make sure pharmacists can inform patients about less costly ways to obtain their medicines, and at least a dozen others are considering legislation to prohibit gag clauses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.