PEORIA, IL (Chambana Today) – Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed two major health care bills Tuesday aimed at lowering prescription drug costs and expanding access to insurance coverage for mental health and travel-related medical expenses.
At a ceremony in Peoria, Pritzker criticized the influence of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), calling them “profit-seeking middlemen” responsible for driving up drug prices and harming independent pharmacies. “Seniors have been forced to pay through the nose for life-saving medications,” Pritzker said. “Families have had to delay or decline medically necessary treatments because they can’t afford it anymore.”
House Bill 1697, known as the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, cracks down on PBMs by banning “spread pricing” and preventing them from steering patients to pharmacies in which they have a financial stake. The bill also creates a $25 million annual grant program to support independent pharmacies, funded by a new tax on PBMs operating in Illinois.
“This is the most comprehensive reform of PBMs we’ve seen,” said David Bagot, president of the Illinois Pharmacists Association. “It could become a national model.”
However, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents PBMs, slammed the bill, calling it “misguided legislation” that fails to tackle the real issue of high drug prices set by pharmaceutical companies.
Pritzker also signed House Bill 3019, the Healthcare Protection Expansion Act, which mandates insurance coverage for travel-related costs for patients who must travel long distances for in-network care—particularly in rural areas. It also eliminates prior authorization requirements for outpatient mental health services, expanding on earlier reforms targeting inpatient and emergency mental health care.
“These laws will help make care more affordable and accessible for families across Illinois,” Pritzker said. “This is about putting patients first.”