February 14, 2020

The funnel deadline is just a short week away. February 21 marks the last day for most bills to be out of a committee in one chamber or be “dead” for the session. Subcommittees are moving quickly and committees are beginning work in earnest to move legislation out of committees to keep it alive. 

Our first IowaBio Legislative Update Call will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, February 21. Please take a minute to RSVP here! We will give you a rundown of what happened during funnel, and what we expect going forward in session.

A House Commerce subcommittee on HF2253, the house version of drug pricing transparency, was held this week. IowaBio was in attendance and expressed opposition to the bill, citing its lack of impact on drug costs for patients. The bill would require drug manufacturers to report information on drug cost increases to the Iowa Insurance Commissioner for drugs costing $100 or more for a thirty-day supply that increase 40 percent in three years or 15 percent in one calendar year. IowaBio along with PhRMA are asking for amendments to the bill, these amendments would actually pass savings on to patients. We are continuing discussions with members of the House Commerce Committee regarding the bill. The Senate drug pricing transparency bill was filed this week and a subcommittee will be held on Monday afternoon. This bill, SSB3155, contains low thresholds that trigger reporting and would require significant reporting requirements. IowaBio opposes the bill. We will continue to monitor and update you about these drug pricing bills. 

A PBM regulation bill was filed this week and a subcommittee is slated for Monday on the bill. HSB685 strengthens the position of pharmacies in relation to PBMs. The bill contains many provisions including: requiring PBMs to meet criteria before placing a drug on a Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) list, provides for an appeals process for pharmacies to appeal the MAC or claims, provide additional MAC transparency and give notice to pharmacies of MAC changes, ensures PBMs cannot reduce payments retroactively on a claim unless it was not a clean claim, and aims to create reimbursement consistency to pharmacies. Please, provide your feedback on this bill to Jessica Hyland at Jessica@iowabio.org. 

HF2089, non-medical switching legislation IowaBio supports passed out of the House Human Resources Committee this week, and is now funnel proof. The bill protects patients from being switched off of a drug on which they are stable by an insurance provider, for non-medical reasons. Additionally, a subcommittee for the Senate version of the bill will be held Tuesday afternoon. 

Anti-vaccination bills continue to be discussed at the capitol. The Senate has scheduled a subcommittee on SF2170, which requires the Department of Public Health to collaborate with health profession boards under its purview to ensure compliance with federal requirements surrounding vaccines on the federal vaccine injury table. The bill allows the Department to establish fines for noncompliance.

The Senate version of insulin cost caps will be heard in a Senate subcommittee next week. The bill, SF2113, caps the total out of pocket cost a patient will pay for a 30 day of insulin at $100. The bill is similar to the bill passed by the House Human Resources committee weeks ago.

An IEDA angel investor credit bill, HSB671, IowaBio supports was filed this week. The bill would give IEDA more flexibility to allocate additional credits (under the $10 million tax credit cap for innovation fund credits and angel investor credits) to angel investor credits. 

Governor Reynolds announced in her Condition of the State address that she was proposing a tax reform proposal called the “Invest in Iowa Act”. The tax proposal was released in the proposed bills, HSB657 and SSB3116. The Governor held a press conference this week on the bills and announced her intention to meet with Iowans over the next month to discuss the plan and get feedback from across the state. Reynolds outlined three main goals of the act including, income taxes, water quality/outdoor recreation funding, and more funding towards mental health.  The bill currently sits with subcommittees that have been assigned, but no meetings have been scheduled. The first town halls for this week were already scheduled and took place on Wednesday in Oskaloosa and Ottumwa. Governor Reynolds stated that she plans to visit all 99 counties to drive this initiative forward.