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Honestly Local
Lawmakers take aim at drug prices
to curb pharmacy middlemen
Senate, House
ATLANTA — The Georgia
Senate unanimously passed leg
islation on Thursday to restrict
practices by pharmacy benefit
managers — companies that run
prescription drug coverage for
insurers and other groups — just
a day after the state House took
similar action.
The bill would require phar
macy benefit managers, called
PBMs, to pass along discounts
pass measures
they receive from drug manufac
turers for a particular medica
tion to consumers. It would also
subject PBMs to surcharges for
ordering patients to use an affili
ated pharmacy and require them
to cover the cost of prescriptions
at other pharmacies, among
other provisions.
It passed the Senate by a
vote of 52-0, after the House
passed a companion bill 165-1
on Wednesday.
Supporters of the measure are
concerned that PBMs — viewed
as middlemen by critics — are
overcharging patients, squeezing
pharmacies and stifling competi
tion that could bring down drug
costs.
PBMs argue that drug mak
ers are responsible for set
ting initial prices, and they
use their purchasing power to
achieve savings.
“Some of the business prac
tices of some PBMs
have a fairly significant
amount of conflict of
interest,” said state Sen.
Dean Burke, a Republi
can from Bainbridge who
sponsored the bill. “The
point of this bill is to allow
our Department of Insur
ance to have the abil
ity to audit these plans.” Burke
said the bill would add trans
parency to pricing and rebate
practices.
Burke said that the bill was a
first step in combating
the rising cost of phar
maceuticals in Georgia
but said he wanted to
continue to examine
drug pricing and other
aspects of the system in
order to lower costs for
patients.
Associated Press
Burke
A space to slide, grind and flip
, ■
■MPi
Photos by NICK BOWMAN I The Times
Though looking soggy on Thursday, March 5, in midtown Gainesville, the bones of the new skatepark coming to the area are
finished. Weather has been slowing down construction on the project, which is scheduled to open in mid-April. Below: The bowls,
ramps and rails of the park are present, but it still needs finished sidewalks and a parking lot.
New midtown skatepark to open in April, weather permitting
BY LINDSAY HOWARD
lhoward@gainesvilletimes.com
The skatepark that is being built at the
corner of Pine and High streets is pro
jected to open mid-April — if the rain
slows down.
The core skatepark elements are com
plete, the bowls and ramps and rails, and
all that’s left are the exterior pieces such
as the sidewalk, parking lot and trash
cans, according to Kate Mattison, direc
tor of Gainesville Parks and Recreation.
The park was designed by Wally Hol-
lyday, owner of California-based Wally
Hollyday Skateparks. He and his crew
used a community design process and
held meetings to hear what local skaters
wanted in their new park.
“Hollyday did the original loose con
cepts. We held public meetings where
Wally Hollyday was present and asked
local skaters what they wanted in their
skatepark. He took those suggestions and
turned them into conceptual designs and
then we turned those designs into engi
neered construction plans,” said Whit
Alexander, executive vice president for
Lose & Associates architecture.
The design process started in late 2018
and by October 2019, construction was
well underway.
Since the beginning of the construction,
the weather has been a huge obstacle
with getting the park finished.
“We had to fight with the rain, but we
got kind of lucky and it gave us enough
dry days so that we could keep control of
it, keep working and get done,” Hollyday
said. “I was talking to the city constantly
throughout the project like, ‘Is there
going to be a point if it keeps raining that
we finish it in the spring?’ and they were
■ Please see SKATE, 4A
Dahlonega
man killed
in 2-car crash
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A 24-year-old Dahlonega man was killed in
a two-vehicle wreck Wednesday, March 4, in
North Hall.
Matthew Novotny was driving south on
Thompson Bridge Road/Ga. 60, north of
Tomacheche Trail, when he failed to maintain
his lane and the vehicle’s right wheels trav
eled onto the road’s west shoulder, the Geor
gia State Patrol said in an email Thursday,
March 5.
Novotny overcorrected his vehicle, caus
ing it to rotate counterclockwise as it traveled
back onto Ga. 60 and into the northbound lane.
A tractor-trailer truck owned by Fieldale
Farms traveling north on Ga. 60 struck Novot
ny’s Dodge Shadow on the right side of the car,
according to the state patrol.
After impact, both vehicles went off the
road and traveled down an embankment on
the west side of Ga. 60. Novotny’s vehicle then
struck a tree with its left side and, along with
the truck, came to a final rest, state patrol said.
The truck driver, Alan Garcia, 36, of Mur-
rayville was uninjured, according to the state
patrol.
The wreck was reported at 11:48 a.m.
Wednesday.
No charges will be filed, state patrol said.
UNG may get
off-campus
housing site
BY JEFF GILL
jglll@gainesvilletlmes.com
Off-campus student apartments — up to 550
beds — could be developed at the University of
North Georgia’s Gainesville campus.
The UNG Real Estate Foundation has
announced an agreement to sell about 18 acres
at 3055 Tumbling Creek Road, next to the cam
pus, to DeKalb County-based Mallory & Evans
Development LLC for the development of the
complex, according to UNG.
Tumbling Creek Road runs between Atlanta
■ Please see CAMPUS, 4A
INSIDE
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Calendar 2A
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g Comics 7B
Life 5B
Lottery 2A
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Sports 1B
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WEATHER 2A
High Low
w* 49 31
Lake Lanier level: 1,075.35 feet
Full pool 1,071. Up 0.21 feet in 24 hours
DEATHS 6A
Amory Barrett, 58
Daniel Doyle, 55
Stephanie Ellis, 40
April Etris, 36
James Green, 81
George Hewes IV, 59
Lillie Moran, 72
Betty Smith, 90
Johnny Sudderth, 76
Patricia Williams, 80
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