Committee backs amended bill to set up Vermont prescription drug discount card program

The Ways & Means Committee voted to report H 5 77 as amended on Friday, advancing a bill that would establish a Vermont prescription drug discount card program and authorize the State Treasurer to administer related funds.

Legislative counsel presented draft 2.3 of the amendment, which removes language authorizing the state to charge fees to participants and directs monies received through transfers, gifts, grants, donations or cooperative arrangements to an existing Financial Literacy and Economic Empowerment Trust Fund administered by the State Treasurer. "Monies received from the program . . . shall be deposited" in that trust fund, counsel said while explaining the cleanup and consolidation in the draft.

Deputy Treasurer David Chair told the committee the Treasurer's Office supports the changes and can manage the expanded fund without commingling resources. He said stakeholders who have testified include providers, insurers, AARP, pharmacists and Vermont consumers. On projected savings, Chair cited experience in Connecticut, saying "consumers there see an average savings of just over $230 each month" for card users and estimated that if 1% of Vermonters used a similar card, "that would be an $18,000,000 put back into Vermonters' pockets." He added the Treasurer's Office would use standard accounting to keep fund uses separate and would defray program administration from the trust fund.

Members asked about access for Vermonters and the potential economic impact on independent pharmacies. The deputy treasurer acknowledged some independent pharmacists had raised concerns but said others did not, and that the vendor model discussed (ArrayRx) uses a nonprofit governance structure the Treasurer's Office could engage with to respond to pharmacy concerns. "It is our view that this is a card that is administered in a way that is sensitive to pharmacist concerns," he said, adding his office does not expect the program to cause widespread harm to pharmacies.

Privacy also drew attention. A committee member highlighted reports that a company used as an example in prior testimony is facing class-action lawsuits for commercializing personal data; the member said that possibility could affect whether companies can sustain the discount model. "When someone's selling our data, our personal health information . . . that comes with a real price tag," the member said, urging protections and user choice.

On procedure, Representative Kimball moved to find amendment 2.3 favorable; Representative Holcomb seconded. The clerk recorded the amendment vote in roll call, and the tally announced for the amendment was "11 0 2." The committee then voted the underlying bill favorable as amended; the clerk announced the final tally "9 2 0." Representative Brannigan will report the committee's action and the bill will go to the Appropriations Committee.

The bill as amended expands an existing trust fund rather than creating a new special fund, deletes authority for the state to impose participant fees, and authorizes the Treasurer to use monies in the fund to defray costs associated with administering the discount card program. The committee did not adopt further changes at this meeting; members asked staff to provide a cleaned-up draft of 2.3.

The measure now moves to Appropriations for further consideration.