TITLE 33 INSURANCE

Section 64. Regulation and Licensure of Pharmacy Benefits Managers, 33-64-1 through 33-64-11.

ARTICLE 4 LIQUIDATION PROCEEDINGS

33-64-1. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the term:

1. "Business entity" means a corporation, association, partnership, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or other legal entity.
2. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Insurance.
3. "Covered entity" means an employer, labor union, or other group of persons organized in this state that provides health coverage to covered individuals who are employed or reside in this state.
4. "Covered individual" means a member, participant, enrollee, contract holder, policy holder, or beneficiary of a covered entity who is provided health coverage by a covered entity.
5. "Health system" means a hospital or any other facility or entity owned, operated, or leased by a hospital and a long-term care home.
6. "Maximum allowable cost" means the per unit amount that a pharmacy benefits manager reimburses a pharmacist for a prescription drug, excluding dispensing fees and copayments, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing charges, if any.
7. "Pharmacy" means a pharmacy or pharmacist licensed pursuant to Chapter 4 of Title 26 or another dispensing provider.
8. "Pharmacy benefits management" means the service provided to a health plan or covered entity, directly or through another entity, including the procurement of prescription drugs to be dispensed to patients, or the administration or management of prescription drug benefits, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
   1. Mail order pharmacy;
   2. Claims processing, retail network management, or payment of claims to pharmacies for dispensing prescription drugs;
   3. Clinical or other formulary or preferred drug list development or management;
   4. Negotiation or administration of rebates, discounts, payment differentials, or other incentives for the inclusion of particular prescription drugs in a particular category or to promote the purchase of particular prescription drugs;
   5. Patient compliance, therapeutic intervention, or generic substitution programs; and
   6. Disease management.
9. "Pharmacy benefits manager" means a person, business entity, or other entity that performs pharmacy benefits management. The term includes a person or entity acting for a pharmacy benefits manager in a contractual or employment relationship in the performance of pharmacy benefits management for a covered entity. The term does not include services provided by pharmacies operating under a hospital pharmacy license. The term also does not include health systems while providing pharmacy services for their patients, employees, or beneficiaries, for indigent care, or for the provision of drugs for outpatient procedures. The term also does not include services provided by pharmacies affiliated with a facility licensed under Code Section 31-44-4 or a licensed group model health maintenance organization with an exclusive medical group contract and which operates its own pharmacies which are licensed under Code Section 26-4-110.

(Code 1981, §33-64-1, enacted by Ga. L. 2010, p. 757, § 1/SB 310; Ga. L. 2015, p. 337, § 2/HB 470.)

The 2015 amendment, effective January 1, 2016, added present paragraphs (6) and (7) and redesignated former paragraphs (6) and (7) as present paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; in subparagraph (8)(A), substituted "order" for "service", and added the last sentence of paragraph (9).