ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently signed into law the Mississippi Pharmacy Practice Act, which establishes oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (defined as nonresident pharmacies) by the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy.

The law goes into effect July 1.

“Our hope is that other states will follow this approach, because it will ensure that a premium is placed on transparency and fairness and not the size of PBMs’ profit margins,” stated Douglas Hoey, EVP and CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, in response to the bill’s passing. “It makes sense to have PBMs subject to board of pharmacy oversight, since pharmacists, drug manufacturers and distributors are already under their control.”