New laws might cut your health care costs

SPRINGFIELD, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – For many, if not most of us, health care is not a cheap date.

Petersburg Pharmacy owner David Bagot, president of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, was part of a bill-signing ceremony. One of the bills Gov. JB Pritzker signed this week in Peoria addressed the pharmacy benefit managers – OptumRx, CVS Caremark, and Express Scripts.

“This bill represents the most comprehensive reform of PBM’s we have seen in Illinois for far too long,” said Bagot. “These companies have used our nation’s drug supply chain to benefit shareholders and executives while driving up costs for people who rely on medications and driving pharmacies out of business.”

The other new law would curb the influence of insurance companies by holding down the criteria for “prior authorization.”