Bill Text: NY A05969 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits health insurers from requiring that the insured purchase prescribed drugs from a mail order pharmacy or pay a co-payment fee when such purchases are not made from a mail order pharmacy if a similar fee is not charged for drugs from a mail order pharmacy.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-14 - held for consideration in insurance [A05969 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05969-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5969
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 20, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. CROUCH -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Insurance
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  insurance  law,  in relation to the purchase of
          prescription drugs
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subsection  (i)  of  section 3216 of the insurance law is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph 35 to read as follows:
     3    (35) No policy which provides  coverage  for  prescribed  drugs  shall
     4  mandate  that  the  same  be  purchased by the insured from a mail order
     5  pharmacy, nor may such policy impose a co-payment fee or other condition
     6  on any insured who elects to purchase drugs from other than a mail order
     7  pharmacy which is not also imposed  on  insureds  electing  to  purchase
     8  drugs from a designated mail order pharmacy.
     9    § 2. Subsection (1) of section 3221 of the insurance law is amended by
    10  adding a new paragraph 21 to read as follows:
    11    (21)  No  insurer  delivering  a  group or blanket policy or issuing a
    12  group or blanket policy for delivery in this state which provides cover-
    13  age for prescribed drugs shall mandate that the same be purchased by the
    14  insured from a mail order pharmacy, nor may such policy impose a co-pay-
    15  ment fee or other condition on any insured who elects to purchase  drugs
    16  from  other  than  a  mail  order  pharmacy which is not also imposed on
    17  insureds electing to purchase drugs from a designated mail order pharma-
    18  cy.
    19    § 3. Section 4303 of the insurance law is amended by  adding    a  new
    20  subsection (ss) to read as follows:
    21    (ss)  No  policy  issued by a medical expense indemnity corporation, a
    22  hospital service corporation or  a  health  services  corporation  which
    23  provides  coverage  for  prescribed drugs shall mandate that the same be
    24  purchased by the insured from a mail order pharmacy, nor may such policy
    25  impose a co-payment fee or other condition on any insured who elects  to
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09672-01-9
        A. 5969                             2
     1  purchase  drugs  from other than a mail order pharmacy which is not also
     2  imposed on insureds electing to purchase drugs from  a  designated  mail
     3  order pharmacy.
     4    § 4.  This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
     5  ing  the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to all
     6  policies and contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended  on
     7  or after such effective date.