PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - 2023 Benefits Forecast with Mercer
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Prescription Drug and Health Coverage Reporting Requirements
On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Treasury and Department of Labor (the “Agencies”) announced new steps intended to “strengthen healthcare price transparency.” ...more
On August 15, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (the “Tenth Circuit”) issued its decision in Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Mulready, one of the first major opinions to further define...more
In a win for self-funded (i.e., self-insured) health plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), the Tenth Circuit recently ruled that ERISA preempts provisions of an Oklahoma law...more
On April 19, 2022, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) released Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the implementation of certain reporting...more
Recent court trends suggest that preemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) may not apply to certain state laws that regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), including state laws governing Maximum...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision clears the way for state regulation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (“PBMs”). Rutledge v. Pharm. Care Mgmt. Ass’n, 141 S. Ct. 474 (2020). At issue before the High Court was...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) last month, in a decision that marks a major win for state regulators. (See Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, 2020 WL 7250098 (U.S....more
Recently, the Supreme Court released its decision in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. The case considers whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) preempts an Arkansas state...more
In a recently decided case, Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not preempt an Arkansas statute that...more
In the recently-decided Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (“PCMA”), the Supreme Court found 8–0 (Justice Barrett did not take part) that ERISA did not preempt an Arkansas state law that established...more
On December 10, 2020, the Supreme Court in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association held that ERISA does not pre-empt an Arkansas law regulating PBM prescription drug payment rates to pharmacies because it...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a unanimous decision in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Ass’n, which supports the validity of state statutes that regulate reimbursement rates pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)...more
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision on Thursday of last week that will impact state-level regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) by holding that an Arkansas law regulating PBMs was not preempted by the...more
Summary The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld an Arkansas statute that regulates the price that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) pay retail pharmacies for prescription drugs. ...more
In Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Mgt. Assoc., — U.S. –, 2020 WL 7250098 (Dec. 10, 2020), the Supreme Court held that ERISA’s broad express preemption will not reach a state law that focuses on the price of prescription drug...more
On Dec. 10, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. The Court reversed the 8th Circuit to uphold a state’s ability to regulate the price at which pharmacy...more
An Arkansas law regulating pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) generic drug reimbursement rates, and affecting the cost of prescription drugs provided under ERISA-governed benefit plans and the administration of those plans, is...more
On November 20, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule (IFR) with comment period implementing a mandatory “Most Favored Nation” demonstration model (MFN Model) to test...more
What will the post-pandemic world look like? What risks and challenges will it raise and how to navigate the new litigation landscape? These are the most relevant questions amid the pandemic. To respond to them and provide...more
In a rare act of bipartisanship, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced on July 23rd a chairman’s mark, the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (PDPRA)...more
On June 4 – 5, 2019, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held an extraordinary and unprecedented evidentiary hearing to decide whether to enter the proposed Final Judgment in U.S. v....more
• The OIG issued an unfavorable advisory opinion on a proposed program by which a marketer would provide free drugs to hospitals to utilize in an inpatient setting to treat infantile epilepsy. • Contrary to the typical...more
While common among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada does not have a national pharmacare program, i.e. a single system of public insurance coverage for prescription...more
The public furor with Big Pharma’s relentless skyward ratcheting of drug prices may be focusing soon on another set of medications, this time powerful anti-inflammatories, and the rising role played by middlemen in the...more
On May 4, 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) and seven agencies including the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly published...more