Kansas House speaker desperately maneuvers to sabotage vote on Senate bill capping drug costs

Legislators share frustration with inaction on two bills tied to pricing of medicine

By Tim Carpenter and Morgan Chilson

TOPEKA — House Speaker Dan Hawkins intensified frustration among Republicans and Democrats by taking new steps to block legislation sought by hospitals and clinics to preserve integrity of a federal program restraining drug prices and generating revenue to care for indigent or uninsured patients in Kansas.

The so-called 340B program compelled pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell drugs at a discount to eligible hospitals and clinics. It also required insurance companies to pay full cost for these prescriptions so the state’s health care providers could generate supplemental revenue to expand patient services.

Hawkins, a Republican candidate for state insurance commissioner who has worked in the insurance industry for 30 years, relied on his unilateral authority as House speaker to bottle up the health care bill overwhelmingly passed by the Kansas Senate.

The Senate’s bill would forbid private companies from making extraordinary demands for health information, claims data and purchasing documents not required to be disclosed by 340B program participants under state or federal law. The Senate’s Defense of Drug Delivery Act would empower the state to investigate complaints along these lines and impose civil penalties against violators of the proposed state statute.

Hawkins, rendered a lame-duck leader after declaring his candidacy for statewide office, responded to the Senate’s bipartisan approval of Senate Bill 284 in March 2025 by burying the bill in the House Interstate Cooperation Committee. Hawkins serves as chairman of the obscure committee.

Since January, Hawkins ordered the Senate bill transferred seven times back and forth between his committee and the House Health and Human Services Committee. Neither has taken action on the proposal.

A coalition of perhaps 50 frustrated House Republicans, backed by dozens of House Democrats, prepared to initiate a procedure last week to bring the contents of SB 284 to the House floor without Hawkins’ blessing. Instead of permitting that political process to play out, Hawkins and House Majority Leader Chris Croft, R-Overland Park, suddenly ended the House session March 19.

Rep. Allen Reavis, an Atchison Republican, said legislators in the House pushing for consideration of the prescription drug bill were doing what they believed to serve the best interests of their constituents. There could be political blowback for their bottom-up approach, he said.

“We were trying to do the process, and the process got stopped. We just wanted to have a fair chance to have a discussion,” Reavis said. “My battle is just to have a voice, to let people have a voice. Let’s have the debate. If the body votes it down, they vote it down.”

Reavis said he was confident bipartisan votes existed in the House to move ahead with SB 284. He said support for their effort had been “overwhelming,” and came from well-known former legislators and statewide officeholders.

The immediate consequence of Hawkins and Croft inhibiting consideration of SB 284 was 20 bills scheduled for House debate that day were left hanging. The list of sidetracked legislation included bills on income taxes, vehicle fees, water program funding, workforce training and mail-in voting.

 

Don’t forget SB 360

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat seeking the party’s nomination for insurance commissioner, said it was frustrating to watch Hawkins try to dodge obvious support for SB 284 and other legislation that would help Kansans with prescription costs.

She included on that list Senate Bill 360, which a bipartisan majority in the Senate passed to bring greater state regulation to prescription drug middlemen and improve transparency of drug pricing. These pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, have been accused of promoting anti-competitive practices, monopolizing the pharmaceutical market and raising costs for consumers.

Hawkins used his power as House speaker to order this bill transferred between the House insurance and health committees four times since Feb. 25. No action has been taken by either committee on the legislation.

“It is our job as legislators to serve and advocate for our constituents, not multibillion-dollar industries,” Sykes said. “Locally owned pharmacies, community hospitals and hardworking Kansans are being directly harmed by Speaker Hawkins’ political power plays as he refuses to allow these two commonsense bills to be debated on the House floor.”

PBMs, including those operated by CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, OptumRx and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, have lobbied against SB 360. They argued PBMs weren’t to blame for rising drug prices.

Rep. Angela Stiens, a Shawnee Republican who had a 27-year medical career, said denial of open House debate on SB 360 and SB 284 would be a tragedy.

“I think that was what a lot of people were frustrated with — that they weren’t allowed to be brought to the floor,” she said. “I think they’re very important, and I think we need to debate on them.”

Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, said it would be “shameful” if Hawkins didn’t reconsider his approach to legislation benefiting consumers tired of escalating medicine prices.

“It would be poor leadership,” Haskins said.

Controversy involving health care legislation at the Capitol generated uncertainty among Republicans and Democrats about whether the House could function well enough to deal with a growing pile of bills before end of the 2026 legislative session this month.

Legislators have been led to believe the House speaker could be so committed to blocking SB 284 that he would refuse to convene the House for general orders, or the period in which bills are heard, until rebel factions agreed to stand down. The House calendar for Monday didn’t include general orders.

 

Sixty hospitals say so

Sen. Michael Murphy, a conservative Republican from Sylvia, got the ball rolling on the 340B bill. He said his homework on the federal program linking pharmaceutical manufacturers, hospitals and clinics, and insurance companies proved the legislation was “vital, especially in my rural district” because survival of pharmacies, clinics and hospitals was of such great importance.

“Not just Kansas, but nationally,” he said. “Thirty states have passed or have pending legislation protecting this program.”

The Senate approved the bill 34-6 on March 20, 2025, after it was endorsed by 60 Kansas hospitals as well as pharmacies, health networks and individuals alarmed with the cost of delivering care to uninsured, underinsured and low-income Kansans. It was opposed by Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican seeking the GOP nomination for governor.

The program has been controversial because drug makers must sell products at the capped price to qualified clinics and hospitals. In addition, Medicaid and private insurers reimburse participating hospitals and clinics at a higher, uncapped rate. Extra revenue must be dedicated by safety-net health care providers to patient services.

Katelin Lucariello, deputy vice president of state policy for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, said the 340B legislation in Kansas should be rejected.

“Due to weak oversight,” Lucariello said, “the program has expanded in a way that has allowed covered entities to divert to their own benefit money intended to help patients get better care and afford their medicines.”

The Senate legislation would forbid companies from denying, restricting or discriminating against Kansas clinics and hospitals regarding 340B drug acquisition and delivery. Attorney General Kris Kobach and the Kansas Board of Pharmacy would be authorized to investigate alleged violations of state law regarding the program. Civil fines for breaking state statute could go as high as $50,000 for each violation.