On February 6, 2024, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) released “pre-proposed” consolidated rulemaking related to the business practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (“PBMs”) licensed to operate in New York.

The draft regulations represent DFS’s latest attempt to promulgate PBM market conduct rules following state PBM licensing legislation that was enacted in 2021. In August 2023, DFS issued proposed regulations addressing consumer protection, conflicts of interest, and transparency issues related to PBM industry practices, including a dispensing fee of $10.18 per drug claim to be paid to pharmacies, but the proposed regulations were later withdrawn by the agency in October 2023 following the public comment period.

DFS’s announcement of the draft regulations and pre-proposal comment period stated that the draft regulations were informed by DFS’s “extensive outreach to industry, health plans, pharmacy groups, state and federal regulators, and the general public.”