Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt hails passage of major PBM reform

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt hails passage of major PBM reform

Topeka, Kan. - Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, today, praised the passage of SB 20, the Kansas Consumer Prescription Protection and Accountability Act. The Department drafted the act to establish a new regulatory framework for pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) that implements critical, commonsense reform to ensure PBM practices are fair and transparent. The bill passed the Kansas Senate 32-8 and the House of Representatives 104-17. It now heads to the Governor for consideration.

"This week, the Kansas Legislature chose to put patients over politics and profits," said Commissioner Vicki Schmidt. "No longer will Kansas let PBMs threaten the pocketbooks of patients, the livelihoods of local businesses and the viability of rural communities."

The Kansas Consumer Prescription Protection and Accountability Act requires drug rebates to be passed through to health plans, for the benefit of patients, and bans a practice called "spread pricing" where a PBM charges a health plan more than it reimbursed a pharmacy. The bill also aims to protect patient choices and local pharmacies by requiring all pharmacies to be reimbursed the same. Finally, it gives the Department of Insurance tools to ensure transparency and accountability.

"I am proud to have stood with the coalition of patients, pharmacists, businesses, communities and legislators who have helped pass this monumental reform to rein in PBMs and their predatory practices," said Commissioner Vicki Schmidt.

A brief of the bill can be found here: https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/ccrb_sb20_01_032326am.pdf.