North Dakota Pharmacy Benefit Law Gets Mixed Results in Court

A North Dakota law regulating pharmacy benefit managers that was previously struck down as ERISA-preempted partially survived a legal challenge Wednesday, when the Eighth Circuit ruled that a handful of challenged provisions were preempted by federal Medicare Part D standards.

Portions of the North Dakota law—which regulates PBMs like Express Scripts and CVS Health that manage prescription drug benefits for health plans—are preempted by Medicare Part D standards, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said in an opinion that announced for the first time the court’s standard for considering Medicare Part D preemption. Under the newly-announced standard, ...