Rosendale wants to override governor's veto of bill

HELENA -- Legislators are being asked to override Gov. Steve Bullock’s veto of a prescription drug cost bill, Auditor Matt Rosendale said Monday, adding ballots were sent last week to support the bill that would save Montanans nearly $8 million a year.

Rosendale said he is seeking a bipartisan effort by legislators to sidestep the May 9 veto of Senate Bill 71. He said the ballots, sent by the Secretary of State's office, must be returned by June 14.

The bill passed the Legislature with enough votes to trigger an automatic poll, Rosendale said Monday, adding the letters were mailed last week.  He said two-thirds of each chamber must vote to quash Bullock’s veto of SB 71. The bill passed the Senate 37-13 Feb. 27 and the House, during the session, 71-27 on April 4.

“All it takes to save Montanans millions on their medications is for legislators to stick to the votes they originally cast,” Rosendale, a Republican, said in a news release, adding he also “strongly’ encouraged those who didn’t vote for it the first time to now “stand up for their constituents.”

The governor's office said Bullock was "confident that legislators understand this bill could do more harm than good by increasing health care costs for Montanans and reducing the state’s ability to reduce premiums through the new reinsurance program ..."

They also said several pieces of legislation have recently become law that help reduce prescription drug costs.

SB 71, drafted by the state auditor's staff and highly touted, mandates health insurers pay the same for prescriptions that pharmacies receive for those drugs. It keeps Pharmacy Benefit Managers from reimbursing pharmacies for less than they charge health plans and keep the difference. Insurance companies are also to get the rebates that drug manufacturers normally pay to PBMs. The insurance companies are to use those rebates to lower drug costs.

Bullock said in his veto letter to the secretary of state that he believed SB 71 would do the opposite of what the sponsor intended and increase costs. He also said he would sign “a range of bills designed to lower those costs” and other health care and insurance costs” for Montanans. 

The Democratic governor said while the bill cuts pharmacy benefit managers out of the rebate process, it could mean that “smaller and nonprofit health insurance plan customers can no longer use these rebates.

“The result is higher drug costs for plan members,” he wrote.

Bullock signed SB 335, which he said protect federally qualified health centers from discrimination in prescription drug pricing; SB 83, which prevents surprise fees by pharmacy benefit managers and SB 270, the Prescription Price Protection Act, which he said prohibits pharmacy benefit managers from requiring pharmacies to charge consumers more in copayments more than it costs to make a drug.

Rosendale said Bullock’s veto was based on “faulty information” and that the three bills listed above do not lower drug prices and that SB 71 was the only one that did.

He also disputed claims by Bullock that SB 71 would increase costs. He said his estimate of $8 million in savings was based on actual data from the Montana State Health Plan and not a “best guess.”

Rosendale also said his bill did not cut pharmacy benefit managers out of the rebate process, but requires that rebates from manufacturers go toward reducing consumer premiums rather than kept by the managers as profit.

His news release offered comment from lawmakers supporting the veto.

Rep. Gordon Pierson, D-Deer Lodge, was the sponsor of this legislation in the House and is a practicing nurse.

“My patients are suffering from the ever-increasing burden of paying for health care and high prescription costs,” he stated. “SB 71 transcends party lines and would save Montanans millions on prescription drugs.”

Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, called it “smart policy” to address the high cost of prescription drugs.
“This very bipartisan legislation will be a big step in the right direction to making medications more accessible and affordable,” he said.

Sen. Al Olszewski, R-Kalispell, is an orthopedic surgeon who sponsored the bill in the Senate and said SB 71 will lower prescription drug costs and “give folks much-needed relief on their health insurance rates.” 

Veteran journalist Phil Drake is our eye on the state capitol. For tips, suggestions or comment, he can be reached at 406-231-9021 or pdrake@greatfallstribune.com. To support his work, subscribe today and get a special offer.