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HB870 • 2026

INSURANCE/HEALTH: Provides relative to formulary placement and cost-sharing requirements for certain generic drugs and biosimilars (REF NO IMPACT See Note)

INSURANCE/HEALTH: Provides relative to formulary placement and cost-sharing requirements for certain generic drugs and biosimilars (REF NO IMPACT See Note)

Healthcare
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Christopher Turner
Last action
2026-05-29
Official status
Senate received Conference Committee Report - Sched. for 5/31/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about implementation by insurance companies.

Insurance and Health Care for Generic Drugs

This bill requires health insurance companies to cover certain generic drugs and biosimilars with lower costs more favorably than their brand-name equivalents, without imposing additional restrictions.

What This Bill Does

  • Defines key terms like 'biosimilar', 'generic drug', and 'formulary'.
  • Requires health insurers to add a new generic drug or biosimilar to their formulary if it has a lower cost than its brand-name equivalent on the initial date of marketing.
  • Ensures that the new generic drugs or biosimilars have more favorable cost-sharing arrangements compared to their brand-name equivalents.
  • Prohibits insurance companies from imposing restrictions like prior authorization or step therapy for these cheaper alternatives.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Health insurance issuers who must comply with formulary placement and cost-sharing requirements.
  • Patients covered by health insurance plans who will have better access to lower-cost generic drugs and biosimilars.

Terms To Know

Biosimilar
A biological product that is similar to an existing approved drug, licensed under federal law.
Generic Drug
A copy of a brand-name drug that has been approved by the FDA and shown to be therapeutically equivalent.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if the cost difference between generic drugs or biosimilars and their brand-name equivalents changes over time.
  • It is unclear how insurance companies will implement these requirements in practice.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Filed

Plain English: The amendment clarifies definitions and requirements for insurers regarding generic drugs and biosimilars, ensuring better cost-sharing arrangements and continuity of therapy protections.

  • Clarifies the definition of 'net cost' to include all applicable rebates and discounts.
  • Requires insurers to provide detailed information about portfolio-based rebates or discounts for each medication identified by its National Drug Code (NDC).
  • Prohibits insurers from changing formulary placement, cost-sharing, or utilization management requirements for enrollees currently using a reference drug during the plan year, except in specific clinical situations.
  • Introduces confidentiality provisions to protect proprietary insurer data from public disclosure.
  • The amendment text does not provide full details on how insurers will implement these changes or potential impacts on patient costs.
Filed

Plain English: HFLBHB870 2395 1716 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Horton on behalf of the Legislative Bureau to Engrossed House Bill No.

  • HFLBHB870 2395 1716 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Horton on behalf of the Legislative Bureau to Engrossed House Bill No.
  • 870 by Representative Turner 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 1, line 13, following "U.S.C." delete "§" 3 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 2 4 On page 1, lines 17, following "U.S.C." delete "§" 5 AMENDMENT NO.
Filed

Plain English: The amendment rejects all changes made by the Senate to HB870.

  • Rejects all amendments proposed by the Senate to HB870.
  • The specific details of the rejected Senate amendments are not provided in the given text.
Filed

Plain English: HFAHB870 4902 3620 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Turner to Engrossed House Bill No.

  • HFAHB870 4902 3620 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Turner to Engrossed House Bill No.
  • 870 by Representative Turner 1 AMENDMENT NO.
  • 1 2 On page 2, delete lines 27 through 29, and insert in lieu thereof the following: 3 (b) Not impose any prior authorization, step therapy, or any other limitation 4 on coverage of a generic drug for which formulary placement is required in 5 accordance with this Paragraph that makes it more difficult for an enrollee to obtain 6 coverage of or access to the generic drug than the reference listed drug.
  • 7 AMENDMENT NO.
Adopted

Plain English: The amendment changes the definitions related to drugs and biological products, including what is considered a biosimilar, brand drug, generic drug, and reference product.

  • Defines 'Biosimilar' as any biological product licensed under U.S. law that has been listed in the FDA's Purple Book as similar or interchangeable with an original biological product.
  • Clarifies 'Brand drug' to mean a drug approved by the FDA under specific sections of federal law, excluding biosimilars.
  • Defines 'Generic drug' as a drug approved by the FDA under 21 U.S.C. §355(j) and listed in the Orange Book as equivalent to an original drug.
  • Specifies 'Reference product' as a single biological product licensed by the FDA that is used for comparison with proposed biosimilar products.
  • The amendment does not provide details on how these definitions will be applied or enforced in practice.
Draft

Plain English: The amendment changes the definitions related to drugs and biological products in the bill, including what is considered a biosimilar, brand drug, generic drug, and reference product.

  • Removes existing lines defining certain terms and replaces them with new definitions for 'Biosimilar', 'Brand Drug', 'Formulary', 'Generic Drug', 'Reference Listed Drug', 'Reference Product', and 'Wholesale Acquisition Cost'.
  • Provides specific criteria for identifying biosimilars, brand drugs, generic drugs, reference listed drugs, and reference products based on FDA listings.
  • Includes a definition for 'formulary' which is a list of prescription drugs approved by health plans.
  • The exact impact of these changes on insurance policies and patient costs is not detailed in the amendment text.
Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds requirements for health insurance issuers to provide detailed cost information and maintain continuity of therapy for current users of reference listed drugs.

  • Adds a definition for 'net cost calculation' which includes rebates and discounts.
  • Requires health insurance issuers to give detailed accounting of rebates or discounts if they involve multiple drug products from the same manufacturer.
  • Ensures that health insurance issuers do not change formulary placement, increase costs, or impose new requirements on current users of reference listed drugs without medical justification or a clear exception process.
  • The amendment text does not provide specific details about how the confidentiality protections will be enforced or what constitutes 'trade secrets'.
Adopted

Plain English: The amendment adds new requirements for health insurance issuers to notify regulators about their decisions regarding formulary placement and cost-sharing for certain drugs.

  • Adds a definition for 'net cost calculation' which is the wholesale acquisition cost minus all rebates, discounts, and fees.
  • Requires health insurance issuers to notify the commissioner if they choose to use net cost calculations for branded prescription drugs instead of adding generics or biosimilars to their formulary.
  • Specifies that notifications must include information about the wholesale acquisition cost, net cost, and cost-sharing amounts for both branded drugs and available generics/biosimilars.
  • The amendment text does not provide details on how these new requirements will be enforced or what consequences there might be for non-compliance.
  • Some technical changes to the bill's language, such as correcting 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing', are included but do not significantly alter the meaning of the bill.
Draft

Plain English: The amendment changes the term 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing' in multiple places within the bill.

  • Changes 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing' on page 2, line 25.
  • Changes 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing' on page 2, line 26.
  • Changes 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing' on page 3, line 15.
  • Changes 'cost sharing' to 'cost-sharing' on page 3, line 16.
Draft

Plain English: The amendment adds new requirements for health insurance issuers to notify regulators about their decisions regarding formulary placement and cost-sharing for certain drugs.

  • Adds a definition for 'net cost calculation' which is the wholesale acquisition cost minus rebates, discounts, and fees.
  • Updates section numbering after adding the new definition.
  • Requires health insurance issuers to notify the commissioner if they choose to use net cost calculation for branded prescription drugs instead of placing generics or biosimilars on the formulary.
  • Specifies that notifications must include information about wholesale acquisition costs, net costs, and how rebates are used.
  • The exact impact and implementation details of these changes are not fully explained in the provided text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-29 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 05/312026.

  2. 2026-05-29 S

    Conference committee report received.

  3. 2026-05-29 H

    Conference Committee report received. Lies over under the rules.

  4. 2026-05-27 S

    Notice House Conference Committee members appointed.

  5. 2026-05-27 H

    House conferees appointed: Turner, Firment, and Miller.

  6. 2026-05-26 H

    Notice of Senate conferees appointed.

  7. 2026-05-26 S

    Senate conference committee members appointed: Talbot, Bass, and Harris.

  8. 2026-05-26 S

    Notice House rejected the Senate amendments.

  9. 2026-05-26 H

    Read by title, roll called, yeas 99, nays 0, Senate amendments rejected, conference committee appointment pending.

  10. 2026-05-25 H

    Scheduled for concurrence on 05/26/2026.

  11. 2026-05-20 H

    Received from the Senate with amendments.

  12. 2026-05-19 S

    Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 33 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

  13. 2026-05-19 S

    Rules suspended. Called from the Calendar.

  14. 2026-05-18 S

    Read by title and returned to the Calendar, subject to call.

  15. 2026-05-18 S

    Rules suspended.

  16. 2026-05-11 S

    Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

  17. 2026-05-07 S

    Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

  18. 2026-05-06 S

    Reported with amendments.

  19. 2026-04-15 S

    Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Insurance.

  20. 2026-04-14 S

    Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

  21. 2026-04-13 H

    Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 96, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

  22. 2026-04-13 H

    Called from the calendar.

  23. 2026-04-09 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 04/13/2026.

  24. 2026-04-09 H

    Notice given.

  25. 2026-04-09 H

    Read by title, returned to the calendar.

  26. 2026-04-08 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 04/09/2026.

  27. 2026-04-07 H

    Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

  28. 2026-04-01 H

    Reported with amendments (10-0).

  29. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Insurance.

  30. 2026-02-27 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

  31. 2026-02-27 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Insurance.

  32. 2026-02-27 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

INSURANCE/HEALTH: Provides relative to formulary placement and cost-sharing requirements for certain generic drugs and biosimilars (REF NO IMPACT See Note)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HLS 26RS-1085 REENGROSSED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 870
BY REPRESENTATIVE TURNER
INSURANCE/HEALTH: Provides relative to formulary placement and cost-sharing
requirements for certain generic drugs and biosimilars
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 22:1060.9, relative to health insurance; to establish requirements for
3 formulary placement and cost-sharing obligations for specific generic drugs and
4 biosimilars; to prohibit certain utilization management practices; to provide
5 definitions; and to provide for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 22:1060.9 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
8 §1060.9. Formulary placement; coverage requirements for certain generic drugs and
9 biosimilars
10 A. For purposes of this Section, the following terms have the meanings
11 ascribed to them in this Subsection:
12 (1) "Biosimilar" means any biological product that is licensed under 42
13 U.S.C. 262(k) and has been listed in the United States Food and Drug
14 Administration's (FDA) Database of Licensed Biological Products ("Purple Book")
15 as biosimilar to or interchangeable with a reference biological product.
16 (2) "Brand drug" means a drug for which an application has been approved
17 under 21 U.S.C. 355(c), or a biological product, other than a biosimilar, that is
18 licensed under 42 U.S.C. 262(a).
Page 1 of 5
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-1085 REENGROSSED
HB NO. 870
1 (3) "Formulary" means a list of prescription drugs that is developed by a
2 Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee or other clinical and pharmacy
3 experts and represents a health plan's prescription drugs approved for use.
4 (4) "Generic drug" means a drug for which an application has been approved
5 under 21 U.S.C. 355(j) and which has been listed in the United States Food and Drug
6 Administration's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations
7 ("Orange Book") as therapeutically equivalent to a reference drug, even if the
8 manufacturer of such drug applies a trade name to the drug.
9 (5) "Reference listed drug" is the listed drug identified by the United States
10 Food and Drug Administration as the drug product upon which an applicant relies
11 in seeking approval of its application submitted under 21 U.S.C. 355(j).
12 (6) "Reference product" is a single biological product, licensed by the United
13 States Food and Drug Administration under 42 U.S.C. 262(a), against which a
14 proposed biosimilar or interchangeable product is compared, and listed as a reference
15 product in the United States Food and Drug Administration's Database of Licensed
16 Biological Products ("Purple Book").
17 (7) "Wholesale acquisition cost" has the same definition as "wholesale
18 acquisition cost" in 42 U.S.C. 1395w-3a(c)(6)(B).
19 B. If a generic drug is approved and marketed pursuant to Paragraph (A)(1)
20 of this Section, and has a wholesale acquisition cost that is lower than the wholesale
21 acquisition cost of its reference listed drug on the generic drug's initial date of
22 marketing, a health insurance issuer that provides coverage for the reference listed
23 drug on that date shall do all of the following:
24 (1)(a) Immediately make the generic drug available on the plan formulary
25 on a tier with more favorable cost sharing, including actual out-of-pocket costs, than
26 the cost sharing applicable to the reference listed drug.
27 (b) Not impose any prior authorization, step therapy, or any other limitation
28 on coverage of a generic drug for which formulary placement is required in
Page 2 of 5
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-1085 REENGROSSED
HB NO. 870
1 accordance with this Paragraph that makes it more difficult for an enrollee to obtain
2 coverage of or access to the generic drug than the reference listed drug.
3 (c) Not impose any restriction on the pharmacy through which an enrollee
4 may obtain the generic drug that makes it more difficult for an enrollee to obtain
5 coverage of or access to the generic drug than the reference listed drug.
6 (2) The requirements of this Subsection shall remain in effect if the
7 wholesale acquisition cost of the generic drug remains lower than the wholesale
8 acquisition cost of the reference listed drug.
9 C. If a biosimilar is licensed and marketed pursuant to Paragraph (A)(3) of
10 this Section and has a wholesale acquisition cost that is lower than the wholesale
11 acquisition cost of its reference product on the biosimilar's initial date of marketing,
12 a health insurance issuer that provides coverage for the reference product on that date
13 shall do all of the following:
14 (1)(a) Immediately make at least one biosimilar available on the plan
15 formulary on a tier with more favorable cost sharing, including actual out-of-pocket
16 costs, than the cost sharing applicable to the reference product.
17 (b) Not impose any prior authorization, step therapy, or any other limitation
18 on coverage of the biosimilar drug for which formulary placement is required in
19 accordance with this Paragraph that makes it more difficult for an enrollee to obtain
20 coverage of or access to the biosimilar drug than the reference listed drug.
21 (c) Not impose any restriction on the pharmacy through which an enrollee
22 may obtain the biosimilar that makes it more difficult for an enrollee to obtain
23 coverage of or access to the biosimilar than to the reference product.
24 (2) The requirements of this Subsection shall remain in effect if the
25 wholesale acquisition cost of the biosimilar remains lower than the wholesale
26 acquisition cost of the reference product.
Page 3 of 5
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-1085 REENGROSSED
HB NO. 870
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 870 Reengrossed 2026 Regular Session Turner
Abstract: Requires health insurance issuers to provide favorable formulary placement and
prohibits the implementation of utilization management barriers for specific generic
drugs and biosimilars with lower wholesale acquisition costs than their
corresponding reference products.
Proposed law defines "biosimilar", "brand drug", "formulary", "generic drug", "reference
listed drug", "reference product", and "wholesale acquisition cost".
Proposed law mandates that health insurance issuers providing coverage for a reference
listed drug must immediately include a newly marketed generic drug on the plan formulary
with more favorable cost-sharing arrangements, provided that the wholesale acquisition cost
of the generic drug is lower than that of the reference listed drug at the time of the generic
drug's initial marketing date.
Proposed law prohibits prior authorization, step therapy, or any other restrictions that would
make accessing the generic drug more challenging than accessing the reference listed drug.
Proposed law stipulates preventing any limitations on the pharmacies through which an
enrollee can obtain the generic drug. Proposed law remains in effect as long as the
wholesale acquisition cost of the generic drug remains lower than that of the reference listed
drug.
Proposed law requires that health insurance issuers providing coverage for a reference
product must immediately include at least one biosimilar on the formulary with more
favorable cost-sharing when the biosimilar’s wholesale acquisition cost is lower than that
of the reference product at its initial marketing date. Similar to the provisions for generics,
proposed law prohibits prior authorization, step therapy, or limitations that hinder access to
the biosimilar compared to the reference product, along with restrictions on the pharmacies
that can dispense the biosimilar. Proposed law remains in place as long as the biosimilar's
wholesale acquisition cost remains lower than that of the reference product.
(Adds R.S. 22:1060.9)
Summary of Amendments Adopted by House
The Committee Amendments Proposed by House Committee on Insurance to the
original bill:
1. Revise and implement a set of technical definitions for the following terms:
"Biosimilar", "Brand drug", "Formulary", "Generic drug", "Reference listed
drug", "Reference product", and "Wholesale acquisition cost".
The House Floor Amendments to the engrossed bill:
1. Clarify that insurers may not impose utilization management requirements on
qualifying generic drugs that are more restrictive than those applied to the
reference listed drug.
Page 4 of 5
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-1085 REENGROSSED
HB NO. 870
2. Clarify that insurers may not impose utilization management requirements on
qualifying biosimilars that are more restrictive than those applied to the reference
product.
3. Make technical changes.
Page 5 of 5
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.