Illinois bill aims to lower cost of prescriptions, reign in pharmacy benefit managers

SPRINGFIELD — A bill that seeks to control the rising cost of prescription drugs while also offering financial help for many small, independent pharmacies in Illinois cleared the state Senate on Thursday and awaits action in the House.

The bill, known as the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, contained in House Bill 1697 , would put new regulations and impose new fees on a large but little understood segment of the prescription drug industry — pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs.

“This really restricts the ability of PBMs to extract large amounts of money out of the prescription drug system,” Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, the bill’s chief Senate sponsor, said in an interview.

PBMs act as a kind of third-party intermediary in the insurance industry who manage prescription drug benefits