Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 17B:27F-6

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2

[Effective Until 1/1/2025]

1. a. A pharmacy benefits manager, in connection with any contract or arrangement with a private health insurer, prescription benefit plan, or the State Health Benefits Program or School Employees’ Health Benefits Program, shall not require a covered person to make a payment at the point of sale for any amount for a deductible, coinsurance payment, or a copayment for a prescription drug benefit in an amount that exceeds the amount permitted pursuant to subsection d. of section 3 of P.L.2023, c.107 (C. 17B:27F-3.1).

b. A pharmacy benefits manager shall not prohibit a network pharmacy from, and shall not apply a penalty or any other type of disincentive to a network pharmacy for:

(1) disclosing to a covered person lower cost prescription drug options, including those that are available to the covered person if the covered person purchases the prescription drug without using health insurance coverage;

(2) providing a covered person with the option of paying the pharmacy provider’s cash price for the purchase of a prescription drug and not filing a claim with the covered person’s health benefits plan if the cash price is less than the covered person’s cost-sharing amount;

(3) providing information to a State or federal agency, law enforcement agency, or the department when such information is required by law; or

(4) applying a discounted price generated by a healthcare platform, as defined pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2003, c.280 (C. 45:14-41), to the payment of a covered person with an account or membership to the healthcare platform for a prescription drug, even if the covered person maintains health insurance coverage.

c. Any provision of a contract that conflicts with the provisions of subsection b. of this section shall be void and unenforceable.

d. A violation of this section shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C. 56:8-1 et seq.), and shall also be subject to any enforcement action that the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance is authorized to take pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2015, c.179 (C. 17B:27F-5).

L.2019, c.257, s.1; amended 2023, c.107, s.10; 2023, c.221, s.1.