“I’m pleased to support smart, bipartisan legislation that places long overdue guardrails on PBMs by requiring those who conduct business in our state to do so in a fair and transparent manner,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Increasing regulation of PBMs is a critical, necessary step towards lowering costs for Kansans and ensuring that their health needs and best interests are put first.”

“We’ve seen more than 100 local Kansas pharmacies close in the past decade alone. This has left thousands of Kansans in pharmacy deserts, forcing them to travel long distances to pick up their needed prescriptions. Kansans deserve better, and that’s what SB 20 will do,” said Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, District 21. “This bill will increase transparency and accountability within our pharmaceutical industry, ensuring Kansans and locally-owned pharmacies are not being priced out of their life-saving medications or the pharmaceutical market. I am proud of the bipartisan work that went into crafting this legislation and getting it across the finish line. The path for this commonsense reform wasn’t without hurdles, but my colleagues and I worked across the aisle to provide much-needed relief to hardworking Kansans.”

Senate Bill 20 enacts several changes to current PBM practices, including granting the Kansas Insurance Commissioner increased authority to regulate PBMs, ensuring all pharmacies are reimbursed using the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC), mandating that drug rebates pass through to health plans, and bans spread pricing so PBMs can no longer charge health plans more than they reimburse pharmacies, which previously resulted in a profit for PBMs.

“Kansans deserve a prescription drug system that works for them, not one that operates behind closed doors by those who seek to profit from it,” said Senate Vice President Tim Shallenburger, District 13. “Senate Bill 20 brings transparency, fairness, and accountability to pharmacy benefit managers by banning spread pricing, ensuring fair reimbursement rates, and strengthening reporting requirements. Most importantly, this bill works to lower prescription costs, protect rural communities and independent pharmacies, and ensure Kansans across this state have access to care and medications they rely on every day.”

Through Senate Bill 20, a new regulatory framework guarantees that the needs of patients – not PBMs – are prioritized.

In addition to Senate Bill 20, Governor Kelly also signed the following bipartisan bills: 

Senate Bill 23: Authorizing the Department of Insurance to revoke the license of a nonresident agent without the requirement of a hearing and adjusting the time frame in which insurance agents and public adjusters must respond to inquiries from the Commissioner of Insurance.

Senate Bill 92: Amending parallel generation law to extend an exclusion regarding large-load facilities from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027.

Senate Bill 232: Establishing the Born to Invest Act, requiring the Office of Vital Statistics to provide certain information on children born in Kansas to the State Treasurer.

Senate Bill 321: Making various commemorative designations for bridges and highways.

Senate Bill 325: Creating the Vehicle Services Modernization Task Force, specify limits in paying for help in collecting motor vehicle registration and certificate of title fees, and renaming certain fees and authorizing an increase to a transaction fee.

Senate Bill 353: Designating an official Kansas Railroad Hall of Fame and establishing the Kansas Railroad Hall of Fame selection committee.

Senate Bill 356: Authorizing the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission (KRGC) to adopt proposed permanent administrative rules and regulations regarding sports wagering.

Substitute for House Bill 2250: Adding administering an emergency opioid antagonist up to 10 years past the product’s expiration date as a protected act immune from criminal prosecution, authorizing a licensed private psychiatrist hospital to maintain a stock supply of emergency medication kits for pharmaceutical emergencies, permitting pharmacists to distribute epinephrine delivery systems to schools for emergency medication kits, and authorizing the use of expedited partner therapy to treat sexually transmitted diseases.

House Bill 2357: Providing for expungement of certain court records and consideration of mediation in eviction actions in which the underlying rental agreement is governed by the residential landlord and tenant act.

House Bill 2497: Amending the Kansas Contracts and Promises statute by limiting the existing prohibition on prepayment penalties to only apply to consumer-purpose home loans.