Representative Mark Perry

Meeting — April 2, 2025 (1:22:34)

and to be compiled by the Attorney General. And the Attorney General's office has reviewed this as well. I'd appreciate a good vote. Representative Perry has explained the bill. Would anyone like

Meeting — April 2, 2025 (1:21:58)

when the children are sexually assaulted by other children on a military basis. What this will do is this will extend the state's jurisdiction over juvenile justice to places of exclusive federal jurisdiction. It will also require the Legislative Council to approve extensions of concurrent jurisdiction when the General Assembly is not in session. And it will also require reciprocal agreements between the United States Department of Defense and the state, county, or municipal government to be filed with the county clerk where the reciprocal agreement was made.

Meeting — April 2, 2025 (1:21:33)

recognized to explain your bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Y'all up. Colleagues, House Bill 1815 is in response to a Department of Defense request via the Defense State Liaison Office. The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in 2018 expressed concern about the ability of the Department of Defense to protect or provide justice to the children of service members

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:46:29)

a vote for our patients and our taxpayers. Thank you. I'm close to

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:45:59)

$50.64, and the independent was paid $24.80. These stats came from yesterday, April 1st. And if that doesn't disturb you, it should. This is a very weighty topic and a very serious issue, and I appreciate the honest deliberation among the members today. And with that, I would appreciate a vote for free and fair markets,

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:45:26)

of three prescription drugs of what an independent pharmacist was reimbursed and what a PBM-owned pharmacist was reimbursed. And I'm not going to pronounce the names because they're too big and too many syllables. One drug, CVS, was paid $13.04. The independent was paid $7.68. The next drug, CVS, was paid $54.83. The independent was paid $21. The third drug, CVS, was paid

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:44:49)

testimony on both sides today some of which i believe is very true and factual some of which I believe is less so. The issue at hand is not vertical integration as it sits in typical normal business. There's nothing wrong with vertical integration unless you have the opportunity to set the prices for your competitors. I've got a list of 8,000 patients here in Arkansas that signed a petition asking us to vote in favor of this legislation. Just yesterday, I have a list

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:44:45)

there have been thank you mr chair um there have been a lot of

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:06:32)

definitely going to be more. And being in Jacksonville, we have Little Rock Air Force Base, and they do all of their mail order through Express Scripts. So this would do that. I know a lot of my clients use Express Scripts. an OctomRx, so this would eliminate that, and they would have to pick a different option.

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (2:05:57)

legislators who have some questions, we're going to start with Representative Perry Thank you Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it Mr. Casperry, I understand the insurance side of it, Mr. Vincent made a comment that this would prevent like the OptumRx Express Scripts, those wouldn't be able to sell or in the state?

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:51:12)

the capacity in this state to meet the needs. Would that go against Act 922 of 2021 where it makes

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:49:58)

question? I just want to make sure I understand it. So if a pharmacy closes, you would be able to allocate, pick up the... Oh, yeah, good question. And where would you do that? How would you

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:49:34)

Any further questions? Anyone? Representative Perry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So you mentioned earlier that you would be able to direct the patients to another pharmacy on that side of it, that if one closed, if you have a lack of accessibility or demand?

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:43:40)

But a good friend of mine who has a pharmacy in DeWitt, Arkansas, he's had to turn patients away because he couldn't afford to fill their prescription. He said, you've got to go to Walmart because I'm losing money on this. Last summer, he used to hire summer help, not pharmacy techs, just high school kids, college kids. He couldn't afford to hire them. Dewitt, Arkansas. You tell me if there's

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:43:09)

change, the reimbursement rates for the rest of the pharmacies? Thank you, Representative Eubanks. It's a very good question. The first thing I'll say is that this is not a bill about reimbursement. This is a bill about fair practice. A lot of people may get it confused with setting the full record straight, but this is merely a step in the right direction. It will help because they won't be able to steer patients towards their own pharmacies.

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:35:59)

broad ability to create broad rules that may or may not apply to unforeseen circumstances. This gives them the ability to make sure that patients have access to care and to those life-saving medications that they need. Okay. Representative Ferguson, you're recognized for your question. I'm sorry. Well, you can go ahead and

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:29:45)

Does that answer your question? Yeah, kind of. But so besides eliminating competition, what else would this

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:29:12)

But the real fact of the matter is if you're going to operate as a PBM, you need to operate as a PBM. If you're going to operate as a pharmacy, you need to operate as a pharmacy. You shouldn't be in a position to where you can be such a bad actor and be in a position to pay yourself higher than your competitor. This is not about free and fair markets, and I would emphasis the word fair, which this market is so obviously not. Thank you.

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:28:39)

or to diversify, sell the building, start over. What kind of impact would that be? Loss of

Insurance & Commerce (House) — April 2, 2025 (1:29:01)

divesting or contracting out, I cannot speak to that. They have valuable assets in which they could sell and spend off and make profitable.