The drug repository program, the official text

2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-5579/1
KMS:skw

2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 969
January 30, 2026 - Introduced by Representatives Snyder, Doyle, Novak, Gundrum, Melotik, McCarville, Taylor, Armstrong, Behnke, DeSmidt, Fitzgerald, Joers, Murphy, Mursau, Neubauer, O'Connor, Ortiz-Velez, Sinicki and Subeck, cosponsored by Senators Cabral-Guevara, Roys and Spreitzer. Referred to Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care.

An Act to repeal 255.056 (7); to renumber and amend 255.056 (3) (c) and 255.056 (3) (d); to amend 255.056 (1) (bg), 255.056 (1) (br), 255.056 (1) (e), 255.056 (2), 255.056 (2m) (intro.), 255.056 (2m) (b), 255.056 (3) (intro.), (a) and (b), 255.056 (4), 255.056 (5), 255.056 (6) (b) and 255.056 (6) (c); to repeal and recreate 255.056 (1) (d) and 255.056 (1) (f); to create 255.056 (1) (bd), 255.056 (1) (bm), 255.056 (1) (br), 255.056 (1) (gc) and (gm), 255.056 (1) (m), 255.056 (2g) (b), 255.056 (2h) (b) and (c), 255.056 (3) (bm), 255.056 (3m) and 255.056 (8) to (20) of the statutes; relating to: the drug repository program.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, the Department of Health Services is required to maintain a drug repository program under which persons may donate drugs or supplies for use by other eligible individuals. This bill makes various changes to the drug repository program.
Under current law, a pharmacy or medical facility may accept and dispense donated drugs. Under the bill, any person that is licensed or permitted to possess a drug in the state in which the person is located may accept and dispense donated drugs in Wisconsin. The bill allows out-of-state persons to donate to the drug repository program in Wisconsin and allows persons in Wisconsin to donate to drug repository programs in other states. The bill also specifies that drugs that may be donated under the program include prescription, nonprescription, and investigational drugs.
In addition, under current law, DHS must promulgate rules relating to eligibility to receive drugs or supplies donated under the drug repository program; the maximum amount that an individual may be charged to receive a donated drug or supply; and standards and procedures for accepting, storing, dispensing, and inspecting donated drugs or supplies. The bill eliminates these rulemaking requirements and instead imposes those provisions in statute. Specifically, the bill provides that a patient is eligible to receive a donated drug or supply if the patient is indigent, uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in a public health benefits program, or, if no need for the drug or supply was identified among patients who meet those qualifications, any patient is eligible to receive the drug or supply. The bill allows a for-profit entity to charge a patient who receives a donated drug or supply a handling fee in an amount that does not exceed the for-profit entity’s cost of providing the drug or supply; the bill expressly provides that no other limitation may be imposed on the amount that a patient may be charged for a donated drug or supply. The bill also imposes various requirements for storage, packaging, labeling, and recordkeeping for drugs and supplies donated under the drug repository program.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. 255.056 (1) (bd) of the statutes is created to read:
255.056 (1) (bd) “Donor” means any person authorized under state or federal law to possess a drug, including an individual member of the public; wholesaler or distributor; 3rd-party logistics provider; pharmacy; dispenser; clinic; surgical or health center; detention or rehabilitation center; jail; prison; laboratory; medical or pharmacy school; prescriber or other health care professional; long-term care facility or health care facility; government agency; drug manufacturer; repackager; relabeler; outsourcing facility; hospital operated by the federal department of veterans affairs; or person authorized to import a drug under section 801 or 804 of
the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 USC 381 to 384, or a similar provision of federal law.
Section 2. 255.056 (1) (bg) of the statutes is amended to read:
255.056 (1) (bg) “Drug” has the meaning given in s. 450.01 (10) and includes a nonprescription drug product, as defined in s. 450.01 (13m), a prescription drug, or a federal food and drug administration-approved drug that is labeled for investigational use.
Section 3. 255.056 (1) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:
255.056 (1) (bm) “Eligible patient” means an individual who is indigent, uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in a public health benefits program. “Eligible patient” includes a patient who is not indigent, uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in a public health benefits program if a need for a donated drug is not identified among patients who are indigent, uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in a public health benefits program.
Section 4. 255.056 (1) (br) of the statutes is created to read:
255.056 (1) (br) “Health care professional” means a person who is licensed to practice as a physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, as defined in s. 154.01 (1g), optometrist, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or any other person who is authorized to dispense or administer drugs.
Section 5. 255.056 (1) (br) of the statutes, as created by 2025 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is amended to read:
255.056 (1) (br) “Health care professional” means a person who is licensed to practice as a physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, advanced
practice registered nurse, as defined in s. 154.01 (1g), licensed under s. 441.09, optometrist, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or any other person who is authorized to dispense or administer drugs.
Section 6. 255.056 (1) (d) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
255.056 (1) (d) “Pharmacist” means a person licensed by the board under s. 450.03 or 450.05 or licensed similarly in the state in which the person is located.
Section 7. 255.056 (1) (e) of the statutes is amended to read:
255.056 (1) (e) “Pharmacy” means a pharmacy that is licensed under s. 450.06 or licensed or permitted similarly in the state in which the pharmacy is located.
Section 8. 255.056 (1) (f) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
255.056 (1) (f) “Practitioner” means any of the following:
1. A person licensed in this state to prescribe and administer drugs.
2. A person licensed in another state and authorized to prescribe and administer drugs in this state.
3. A person licensed to prescribe and administer drugs in the state in which they are located.
Section 9. 255.056 (1) (gc) and (gm) of the statutes are created to read:
255.056 (1) (gc) “Recipient” means a person that is licensed or permitted to possess a drug in the state in which the person is located, including a wholesaler or distributor, reverse distributor, repackager, hospital, pharmacy, medical facility, clinic, or prescriber office.
(gm) “Returns processor” has the meaning given in 21 USC 360eee (18) and includes a reverse distributor.
Section 10. 255.056 (1) (m) of the statutes is created to read:

255.056 (1) (m) “Tamper-evident packaging” means a packaging system the contents of which cannot be accessed without obvious destruction of the packaging system, including unit-dose, multiple-dose, immediate, secondary, and tertiary packaging.
Section 11. 255.056 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:
255.056 (2) The department shall establish and maintain a drug repository program, under which any person a donor may donate a drug or supplies, other than a drug specified under sub. (2m), and a recipient may receive a donated drug or supply for use by an individual who meets eligibility criteria specified by rule by the department. Donation may be made on the premises of a medical facility or pharmacy that elects to participate in the program and meets requirements specified by rule by the department. The medical facility or pharmacy eligible patient.
(2g) (a) A recipient may charge an individual eligible patient who receives a drug or supplies under this subsection sub. (2) a handling fee that may not exceed the amount specified by rule by the department. A medical facility or pharmacy.
(2h) A recipient that receives a donated drug or supplies under this subsection sub. (2) may distribute do any of the following:
(a) Distribute the drug or supplies to another eligible medical facility or pharmacy recipient for use under the program under this section or to an entity participating in a drug donation program operated by another state.
Section 12. 255.056 (2g) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
255.056 (2g) (b) If the recipient is a for-profit entity, the handling fee under par. (a) may not exceed the recipient’s cost of providing the drug or supplies,
including the current and anticipated costs of educating eligible patients or donors, providing technical support to participating donors, shipping and handling, labor, storage, licensing, utilities, advertizing, technology, supplies, and equipment. No limitation other than the limitations described under this paragraph may be imposed upon the amount of a handling fee under par. (a).
Section 13. 255.056 (2h) (b) and (c) of the statutes are created to read:
255.056 (2h) (b) Repackage the donated drug or supply as necessary for storage, dispensing, administration, or transfers, in accordance with sub. (12).
(c) Replenish with the drug or supplies a drug or supplies of the same drug name and strength that was previously dispensed or administered to eligible patients.
Section 14. 255.056 (2m) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
255.056 (2m) (intro.) None of the following drugs may be donated, accepted into inventory, distributed, or dispensed under this section:
Section 15. 255.056 (2m) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
255.056 (2m) (b) A drug for which the U.S. food and drug administration requires that a patient using the drug be enrolled in a registry as provided has a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy that prohibits inventory transfers under 21 USC 355-1 (f) (3) (F).
Section 16. 255.056 (3) (intro.), (a) and (b) of the statutes are amended to read:
255.056 (3) (intro.) A drug or supplies may be accepted and dispensed into inventory under the program specified in sub. (2) only if all of the following requirements are met:

(a) The drug or supplies are in their original, unopened, sealed, and tamper- evident packaging or,; if the drug or supplies are packaged in single-unit doses, the single-unit-dose packaging is unopened; or the drug or supplies have been repackaged as part of the program specified under sub. (2).
(b) In the case of a drug, the drug bears an expiration date that is later than 90 days after the date that the drug was donated is not expired.
Section 17. 255.056 (3) (bm) of the statutes is created to read:
255.056 (3) (bm) In the case of a drug that requires temperature control other than room temperature storage, the drug has a method recognized by the U.S. Pharmacopeia to detect improper temperature variations during transit.