Feds Ask SCOTUS to OK State Regulation of Pharmacy Benefits

The U.S. Supreme Court should confirm that states may regulate how companies like Express Scripts and CVS Health reimburse pharmacies for prescription drugs, the U.S. Solicitor General said in a brief.

Noel J. Francisco, along with Solicitor of Labor Kate S. O’Scannlain, urged the justices to hear a case asking whether an Arkansas law regulating pharmacy benefit managers is preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit wrongly struck the law as preempted, Francisco said.

The Arkansas law doesn’t reference ERISA plans or have an impermissible connection with them, Francisco ...