AP: Oklahoma legislator files bill requiring PBMs to get a state license from state pharmacy board

OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation that would require pharmacy benefit managers to seek licensure from the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy if they were to distribute medicines to Oklahoma residents was introduced on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press report. 

Oklahoma Rep. David Derby, R-Owasso, a Walmart pharmacist and the bill's sponsor, suggested the measure would bring PBMs under state oversight for the first time. "We've got somebody out there who's making life decisions for you and your constituents that are not regulated in the state of Oklahoma," Derby told the House Public Health Committee, according to the AP report. "They are totally unregulated," he said, noting that PBMs filling prescriptions through their mail order can adhere to out-of-state regulations even though the prescription has been written for a Oklahoma resident. 

Any pharmacy that mails prescriptions to Oklahoma must be licensed, though a PBM doesn't, the AP reported.