SECTION 365:25-29-12. Commissioner's authority - advisory committee

(a)   Pursuant to 36 O.S. § 6966, the Insurance Commissioner shall establish an advisory committee composed of representatives from the following constituent groups:

(1)   Oklahoma Pharmacists Association;

(2)   Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General;

(3)   Consumers; and,

(4)   Insurers or PBMs.

(b)   The advisory committee shall function in an advisory capacity only. Any investigation or enforcement action in consequence of the act shall be at the sole discretion of the Commissioner.

(c)   Nominees for members of the advisory committee as provided in § 6966 (C) shall be representative of the interests of the stakeholders listed above and shall be submitted to the Commissioner for appointment.

(d)   Because committee members will be dealing with confidential, proprietary, or competitively sensitive information the Commissioner shall implement the following protections to prevent such information from being viewed or used inappropriately:

(1)   Advisory committee members shall avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from being involved in any proceedings where they may have insight into a competitor's pricing or proprietary information. The committee members must also avoid any conduct which could be viewed as a conspiracy to fix prices or otherwise restrict competition.

(2)   Committee members shall be required to sign conflict of interest forms that disclose potential conflicts before serving on the committee, and affirmatively recuse themselves when a potential conflict arises. A conflict arises when a committee member has a financial stake in the outcome of a complaint or issue before the committee, or has an existing contract with a PBM, pharmacy, or insurer that is the subject of the committee's review. In addition, committee members shall be required to sign confidentiality commitments that acknowledge the statutory prohibition of any disclosure of confidential information that is available to the committee.

(3)   All committee nominations must be supported by a National Association of Insurance Commissioners biographical affidavit and background check.

(e)   Meetings of the advisory committee shall be convened by the Commissioner upon ten (10) days prior written notice or waivers thereof. The Commissioner or Commissioner's designee may attend any or all meetings of the committee.

[Source: Added at 37 Ok Reg 1926, eff 9-11-20]