A long-running effort to rein in pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) reached a major milestone last week when President Donald Trump signed landmark federal PBM reforms into law. Included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, the bipartisan package represents the most significant federal action on prescription drug middlemen in decades.
The provisions aim to increase transparency, protect patient access to care, and curb practices that drive up drug costs and limit choice.
Still, advocates and policymakers caution that the federal reforms are a foundation, not a finish line. This is evident, particularly in states like Georgia, where lawmakers continue with additional efforts to protect patients and support local pharmacies.
HB 810
In Georgia, the focus on accountability and patient access is driving progress on House Bill (HB) 810, which advanced out of the House Health Committee and continues to move through the legislative process.
Sponsored by Representative Rick Jasperse (R-11), HB 810 builds on Georgia’s unanimous passage of HB 196 in 2025 and seeks to address ongoing challenges facing patients and community pharmacies.
Since 2015, more than 200 pharmacies have closed statewide, with rural areas hit hardest. HB 810 would require PBMs to reimburse pharmacies based on the actual cost of acquiring a drug, plus a reasonable professional dispensing fee.
The bill replaces the opaque Average Wholesale Price (AWP) benchmark with the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC), a standard that reflects real market conditions and limits PBM manipulation.
Rep. Jasperse emphasized that the bill’s progress reflects a growing consensus that Georgia must act to protect patients and preserve access to local pharmacy care.
“The pharmacy benefit managers were supposed to lower costs. Instead, they’ve become a gatekeeper of our health care,” Jasperse explained in the Health Committee session. “Right now, many of our pharmacist chains are being reimbursed for less than what it actually costs them to buy the drug.”
Taken together, the federal reforms signed into law and HB 810’s advancement in Georgia reflect a shift toward PBM accountability. With momentum building at both the federal and state levels, advocates say Georgia is positioned to build on Washington’s progress and deliver meaningful, lasting protections for patients.
