Express Scripts Fails to Defeat Louisiana Prescription Fee Suit

Express Scripts Inc. must continue to defend its refusal to reimburse Louisiana pharmacies for a 10-cent fee imposed on all pharmacy-filled prescriptions after a federal court in the state said the federal Medicare Act doesn’t bar the fee.

Medicare’s prescription drug coverage provision—known as Medicare Part D—doesn’t expressly prohibit state governments and insurance departments from imposing price structures or interfering with contract negotiations between Part D plan sponsors and pharmacies, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said.

The federal law and its implementing regulations thus don’t provide a basis for conflict preemption requiring dismissal of this ...