The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey announced on May 18 that the General Assembly passed A-1502, known as the Patient and Provider Protection Act. Chrissy Buteas, President and Chief Executive Officer of the institute, released a statement regarding this legislative development.
The act aims to improve access to medications and reduce costs for patients by addressing practices involving pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and other intermediaries. “We applaud the Assembly’s passage of this important legislation, which will improve access to life-saving medications and lower costs for patients. New Jersey is known as the ‘Medicine Chest of the World’ for our global leadership in discovering new medicines – this bill aims to make sure PBMs and other middlemen don’t artificially inflate the cost of those medicines for their own profits at the expense of New Jersey patients,” Buteas said.
Buteas also said, “Today’s action by the Assembly addresses the critical goal of making healthcare more affordable, helping patients and families across our state. We look forward to supporting the bill as it continues through the legislative process.”
The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey contributes to public health education, supports biopharmaceutical progress initiatives, operates as a nonprofit organization dedicated to innovation policies, engages in advocacy at state and federal levels for life sciences policy changes, builds alliances that advance healthcare innovation, functions as a trade association in biopharmaceuticals and medical technology fields, and maintains its headquarters in Princeton according to the official website.
Observers note that further legislative steps are expected before A-1502 becomes law.
