The proposed bill aims to establish fair pricing standards for community pharmacy reimbursements in Minnesota, as outlined in a new section of the Minnesota Statutes, chapter 62J. It mandates that the total reimbursement for any prescription drug dispensed by a community pharmacy must be no less than the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) or, if unavailable, the Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC), along with a professional dispensing fee that is adjusted biennially based on an independent cost-of-dispensing survey. The bill also clarifies that reimbursement for covered entities participating in the federal 340B program will be determined according to federal and state law, and it prohibits below-cost reimbursements and negative adjustments for community pharmacies.

Additionally, the bill sets forth specific requirements to ensure fair treatment of community pharmacies by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and managed care organizations (MCOs). These include mandates that PBMs and MCOs must reimburse community pharmacies at or above the established reimbursement standards without applying any reductions, and they cannot impose negative adjustments that would result in lower reimbursements. Furthermore, the bill requires parity in reimbursement rates between community pharmacies and PBM-owned or affiliated pharmacies, ensuring that community pharmacies are not reimbursed at a lower rate for the same drug under identical conditions.