Adopted

AMENDMENT NO 1 PROPOSED TO

House Bill No.  708

BY: Representatives Bain, Mims

AMEND by deleting lines 394 through 401 in their entirety, inserting in lieu thereof the following new subsection (4) and renumbering the succeeding subsections:

     "(4)  (a)  Any information required to be submitted to the board pursuant to licensure application that is considered proprietary by a pharmacy benefit manager shall be marked as confidential when submitted to the board.  All such information shall not be subject to the provisions of the federal Freedom of Information Act or the Mississippi Public Records Act and shall not be released by the board unless subject to an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.  The board shall destroy or delete or cause to be destroyed or deleted all such information thirty (30) days after the board determines that the information is no longer necessary or useful.

(b)  Any person who knowingly releases, causes to be released or assists in the release of any such information shall be subject to a monetary penalty imposed by the board in an amount not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) per violation.  When the board is considering the imposition of any penalty under this paragraph (b), it shall follow the same policies and procedures provided for the imposition of other sanctions in the Pharmacy Practice Act.  Any penalty collected under this paragraph (b) shall be deposited into the special fund of the board and used to support the operations of the board relating to the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers.

(c)  All employees of the board who have access to the information described in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be fingerprinted, and the board shall submit a set of fingerprints for each employee to the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of conducting a criminal history records check.  If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the Department of Public Safety shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history records check."

AMEND FURTHER the title by inserting the following after the semicolon on line 27:  "TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO DESTROY OR DELETE ALL SUCH INFORMATION THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT THE INFORMATION IS NO LONGER NECESSARY OR USEFUL; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY RELEASES ANY SUCH INFORMATION SHALL BE SUBJECT TO A MONETARY PENALTY IMPOSED BY THE BOARD; TO PROVIDE THAT ALL EMPLOYEES OF THE BOARD WHO HAVE ACCESS TO SUCH INFORMATION SHALL BE FINGERPRINTED AND UNDERGO A CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS CHECK;"