Insurance gag-clause ban for pharmacists OK'd by Senate panel

Modern Healthcare: A key Senate panel approved a measure to ban insurer "gag clauses" on pharmacists Wednesday, clearing the way for a full floor vote of a proposal that a bipartisan group of senators have been pushing as a way to lower consumer costs.

Gag clauses—stemming from contractual arrangements between insurers and pharmacy benefit managers—prohibit pharmacists from telling patients filling prescriptions that they may pay less for a given prescription drug if they use cash instead of their insurance co-pay.

Read article