The bill amends Chapter 6-13.1 of the General Laws, titled "Deceptive Trade Practices," by introducing a new section specifically addressing the actions of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs). It defines key terms such as "effective rate pricing," "enrollee," "inducement," "maximum allowable cost price," "patient steering," and "spread pricing." The bill outlines a series of prohibited acts that PBMs must adhere to, including:

1. Conducting or participating in spread pricing or effective rate pricing.
2. Engaging in patient steering to pharmacies in which the PBM has an ownership interest.
3. Penalizing enrollees or offering inducements for using specific pharmacies.
4. Requiring pharmacists to purchase drugs from particular wholesalers.
5. Failing to adjust the maximum allowable cost (MAC) price when the wholesaler does not sell the drug to the pharmacist.
6. Not honoring MAC requirements as specified in existing laws.
7. Imposing early-refill restrictions on maintenance medications.
8. Delaying acceptance of step therapy documentation for prescribed drugs on the health plan's formulary.
9. Exploiting prescription drug information obtained from enrollees for monetary gain.
10. Selling or using prescription drug information for marketing or steering purposes.
11. Engaging in drug repackaging for price markups without informing enrollees.
12. Operating without proper registration and licensure in Rhode Island.

The legislation categorizes violations of these provisions as unfair and deceptive trade practices. It specifies that each violation is considered a separate offense for each individual consumer transaction. The bill clarifies that it does not interfere with consumers' rights to know about drug costs or existing federal laws and maintains the authority of the attorney general to pursue additional legal actions against PBMs. This act will take effect upon passage.