U.S. Appeals Court invalidates significant components of Oklahoma law governing PBMs

Only three months after oral argument, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a decision agreeing with the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) that Oklahoma's Patient's Right to Pharmacy Choice Act (the Act) is preempted by ERISA because it interferes with central matters of plan administration by restricting ERISA plans from structuring their pharmacy networks in a particular manner. The court also held that ERISA preempted the Act's provision that would bar pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from denying, limiting, or terminating a pharmacy's contract because one of its pharmacists is on probation with the state pharmacy board.