Forty-five states, the U.S. solicitor general and groups representing doctors, pharmacists, grocery store owners and retirees have filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Arkansas' efforts to regulate companies that pay drug claims on behalf of health plans.
At issue is whether the country's top court should overturn lower court rulings that have limited the reach of Arkansas laws passed in response to pharmacists' complaints of low reimbursement from the companies, known as pharmacy benefit managers.
Siding with the pharmacy benefit managers, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a 1974 federal law, prohibits such state regulations from applying to the drug benefits offered by plans in which an employer, rather than an insurance plan, is ultimately responsible for paying employees' health expenses.
Writing on behalf of the 45 states and the District of Columbia, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra disagreed.
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