Bill Commons

VA SB 668

Status unknown

State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions, report.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · upper

Quick answers

Did VA SB 668 pass?

The current status of VA SB 668 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-11): Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N)

What is VA SB 668 about?

State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions; report. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services' contract with the state pharmacy benefits manager to (i) require that that ingredient-cost reimbursement is based on the national average drug acquisition cost, or if unavailable, the wholesale acquisition cost minus a discount set by the Department, plus a professional dispensing fee, determined by the Department; (ii) require real-time or near real-time transparency in drug costs, rebates collected and paid, dispensing fees paid, administrative fees, and all other charges, fees, costs, and holdbacks, claim denials appeals, and network participation; (iii) prohibit the state pharmacy benefits manager from steering Medicaid recipients to affiliated pharmacies through differential cost-sharing, restrictive network design, or the mandatory use of a mail order pharmacy provider; (iv) require the state pharmacy benefits manager to (a) meet network adequacy standards established by the Department; (b) allow any willing pharmacy to participate in the pharmacy network; (c) verify that all contracted pharmacies are actively accepting Medicaid recipients; (d) submit annual reports containing certain information; (e) disclose to the Department pricing and maximum acquisition cost methodologies; and (f) allow invoice-based or national average drug acquisition cost-based appeals and require an adjustment of rates network-wide when an appeal is upheld; and (v) include enforcement mechanisms and monetary penalties for noncompliance. Additionally, the bill requires Department to annually calculate the savings generated by the use of the state pharmacy benefits manager and to annually increase its dispensing fee by the amount of such savings. The bill requires the Department to annually (1) publish and make available on its website its annual and total savings achieved, the annual and total amount applied to dispensing fees increases, and the updated dispensing fees and (2) report to the General Assembly on the state pharmacy benefits manager's compliance, national average drug acquisition cost compliance, pharmacy reimbursement trends, network adequacy compliance, and dispensing fee sufficiency.

Who sponsors VA SB 668?

Aaron R. Rouse is the primary sponsor of VA SB 668.

Description

State pharmacy benefits manager; contractual provisions; report. Requires the Department of Medical Assistance Services' contract with the state pharmacy benefits manager to (i) require that that ingredient-cost reimbursement is based on the national average drug acquisition cost, or if unavailable, the wholesale acquisition cost minus a discount set by the Department, plus a professional dispensing fee, determined by the Department; (ii) require real-time or near real-time transparency in drug costs, rebates collected and paid, dispensing fees paid, administrative fees, and all other charges, fees, costs, and holdbacks, claim denials appeals, and network participation; (iii) prohibit the state pharmacy benefits manager from steering Medicaid recipients to affiliated pharmacies through differential cost-sharing, restrictive network design, or the mandatory use of a mail order pharmacy provider; (iv) require the state pharmacy benefits manager to (a) meet network adequacy standards established by the Department; (b) allow any willing pharmacy to participate in the pharmacy network; (c) verify that all contracted pharmacies are actively accepting Medicaid recipients; (d) submit annual reports containing certain information; (e) disclose to the Department pricing and maximum acquisition cost methodologies; and (f) allow invoice-based or national average drug acquisition cost-based appeals and require an adjustment of rates network-wide when an appeal is upheld; and (v) include enforcement mechanisms and monetary penalties for noncompliance. Additionally, the bill requires Department to annually calculate the savings generated by the use of the state pharmacy benefits manager and to annually increase its dispensing fee by the amount of such savings. The bill requires the Department to annually (1) publish and make available on its website its annual and total savings achieved, the annual and total amount applied to dispensing fees increases, and the updated dispensing fees and (2) report to the General Assembly on the state pharmacy benefits manager's compliance, national average drug acquisition cost compliance, pharmacy reimbursement trends, network adequacy compliance, and dispensing fee sufficiency.

Introduced
2026-01-14
Latest action
2026-02-11 — Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N)
Bill type
bill
Last updated

Sponsors

  • Aaron R. Rouseprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-01-14

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103768D

    filing,introduction

  2. 2026-01-14

    Referred to Committee on Education and Health

    referral-committee

  3. 2026-01-29

    Rereferred from Education and Health to Commerce and Labor (13-Y 0-N)

    referral-committee

  4. 2026-02-02

    Reported from Commerce and Labor and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (11-Y 1-N)

    committee-passage

  5. 2026-02-04

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB668)

  6. 2026-02-11

    Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N)

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Rereferred from Education and Health

    2026-01-29 · pass · 13-0

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • L. Louise Lucas: yes
    • Mamie E. Locke: yes
    • David R. Suetterlein: not voting
    • Mark J. Peake: yes
    • Todd E. Pillion: yes
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
    • Lamont Bagby: not voting
    • Christopher T. Head: yes
    • Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
    • Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
    • Tara A. Durant: yes
    • Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
    • Christie New Craig: yes
    • Russet Perry: yes
  • Reported from Commerce and Labor

    2026-02-02 · pass · 11-1

    Member-level votes (15)
    • R. Creigh Deeds: yes
    • Mark D. Obenshain: yes
    • L. Louise Lucas: not voting
    • David W. Marsden: yes
    • Adam P. Ebbin: yes
    • Scott A. Surovell: yes
    • William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
    • Ryan T. McDougle: yes
    • Mamie E. Locke: not voting
    • Bryce E. Reeves: yes
    • Bill DeSteph: no
    • Jeremy S. McPike: yes
    • Mark J. Peake: yes
    • Aaron R. Rouse: yes
    • Lamont Bagby: not voting
  • Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations

    2026-02-11 · pass · 14-1

    Member-level votes (15)
    • L. Louise Lucas: yes
    • R. Creigh Deeds: yes
    • Mamie E. Locke: yes
    • David W. Marsden: yes
    • Adam P. Ebbin: yes
    • Ryan T. McDougle: yes
    • Mark D. Obenshain: yes
    • Richard H. Stuart: yes
    • Bryce E. Reeves: yes
    • Barbara A. Favola: yes
    • Scott A. Surovell: yes
    • Jeremy S. McPike: yes
    • Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
    • Todd E. Pillion: yes
    • Aaron R. Rouse: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

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