North Carolina HB 624: Prescription Drug Pricing.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 624

Short Title: Prescription Drug Pricing. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Crawford, Clark, Cervania, and Belk (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 2, 2025
*H624-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROMOTE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICE TRANSPARENCY. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1. Chapter 90 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article 4
to read: 5
"Article 4D. 6
"Prescription Drug Transparency. 7
"§ 90-85.55. Definitions. 8
The following definitions apply in this Article: 9
(1) Generic drug. – A drug that is identical or bioequivalent to a brand-name drug 10
in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance 11
characteristics, and intended use. 12
(2) Interested parties. – All of the following: 13
a. State agencies that (i) purchase prescription drugs or (ii) employ 14
prescribers. 15
b. Health insurance companies. 16
c. Health care service plan providers. 17
d. Pharmacy benefits managers. 18
(3) Manufacturer. – An entity or an agent of an entity that produces, prepares, 19
propagates, compounds, processes, packages, repackages, or labels a 20
brand-name or generic drug. "Manufacturer" does not include an entity 21
engaged in the preparation and dispensing of a brand-name or generic drug 22
pursuant to a prescription. 23
(4) Prescriber. – Any person authorized under the laws of this State to issue a 24
prescription order. 25
(5) Prescription drug. – Defined in G.S. 90-85.3. 26
(6) Prescription order. – Defined in G.S. 90-85.3. 27
(7) Secretary. – The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. 28
(8) Substantial price increase. – Any increase in the price charged by a 29
manufacturer for a prescription drug that would have the impact of increasing 30
the cost of the drug by ten percent (10%) or more over 12 months. 31
"§ 90-85.56. Required notifications and disclosures. 32
(a) Price Increases. – A manufacturer shall notify all interested parties of an upcoming 33
substantial price increase at least 60 days prior to the increase. Within 30 days after the 34

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 624-First Edition
notification required under this subsection, the manufacturer shall disclose the following to all 1
interested parties: 2
(1) A justification for the proposed price increase. The manufacturer may limit 3
the information in the justification to that which is publicly available. 4
(2) The previous year's marketing budget for the drug. 5
(3) The date and price of acquisition if the drug was not developed by the 6
manufacturer. 7
(4) A schedule of price increases for the drug for the previous five years. 8
(b) New Products. – A manufacturer shall notify all interested parties of the price of any 9
new prescription drug within three days after the manufacturer receives approval by the U.S. 10
Food and Drug Administration. Within 30 days after the notification required under this 11
subsection, the manufacturer shall disclose the following to all interested parties: 12
(1) A justification for the price. The manufacturer may limit the contents of the 13
justification to publicly available information. 14
(2) The expected marketing budget for the drug. 15
(3) The date and price of acquisition if the drug was not developed by the 16
manufacturer. 17
(c) Risk of Dependency. – If a manufacturer or an agent of the manufacturer meets or 18
otherwise communicates with a prescriber for the purpose of marketing a prescription drug, the 19
manufacturer or the manufacturer's agent shall disclose to the prescriber if any ingredient in the 20
prescription drug it is marketing is known to pose a risk of dependency in humans. 21
"§ 90-85.57. Penalty for failure to report. 22
The Secretary shall assess a civil penalty against any manufacturer that fails to report the 23
information required under G.S. 66-462(a) and (b). The amount of the penalty shall not exceed 24
one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day the manufacturer fails to submit the required 25
information. The clear proceeds of any civil penalties assessed pursuant to this section shall be 26
remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2. Chapter 27
150B of the General Statutes applies to proceedings for the assessment of civil penalties under 28
this section. 29
"§ 90-85.58. No price limitations. 30
Nothing in this Article shall be construed as a limitation upon the ability of a manufacturer 31
to charge any price for a prescription drug permitted by law. 32
"§ 90-85.59. Report and data collection by the Secretary; public portal. 33
(a) Plan for Implementation. – The Secretary shall develop a plan to collect data from 34
manufacturers related to the cost and pricing of prescription drugs in order to provide 35