The North Carolina Department of Justice and North Carolina Department of Insurance alerted pharmacy benefit managers Feb. 17 that the state’s SCRIPT Act is now in effect, and said they are prepared to enforce the law.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said their offices will work together to ensure fair drug prices and uphold the legislative mandate of the General Assembly, according to a Feb. 17 news release.
The North Carolina General Assembly passed the SCRIPT Act in 2025. The law requires PBMs to allow any pharmacy to participate in their networks and permit patients to use the pharmacy of their choice, pass on most of the savings they negotiate with drugmakers directly to patients, submit annual reports to the North Carolina Department of Insurance and more fairly reimburse independent pharmacies.
The law also gives the Department of Insurance stronger regulatory and enforcement authority and provides the Department of Justice additional authority to enforce North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act against PBMs. A few PBMs control more than three-fourths of the nation’s 6.6 billion prescription drugs, according to the release.
