BATON ROUGE - The state of Louisiana is on the hook for $2 billion dollars after a contract was signed for state employees' health insurance, even though state lawmakers unanimously voted against it, and negotiations are in the works since the contract expires next year.

About 240,000 families in Louisiana are represented by the Office of Group Benefits (OGB), which recommends benefit programs for Louisiana’s current and retired employees.

Two years ago, a contract worth $2 billion was brought to the Joint Legislative Committee of The Budget, Rep. Tony Bacala R-Prarieville. It was for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). They’re middle men contracted by health insurance companies to negotiate drug prices and set pharmacy reimbursements.

"There was a reason we didn't like the contract because it was extremely damaging, particularly to local pharmacies, to any mom and pops,” Bacala said. “They were going to be reimbursed less than their costs. It just doesn't work that way."

The process has been criticized because leaders say the middlemen tack on additional costs for consumers and undercut family owned pharmacies needing those reimbursements.

"Who could expect your local pharmacy to stay in business when they're being reimbursed below cost?" Bacala said.

Despite a unanimous “no” vote, the then commissioner of administration Jay Dardenne signed the contract anyway.

Next year the contract expires, but this time legislators say they want to make sure $2 billion isn’t spent again without their say.

Leaders say they hope bringing this up early in the process means they’ll be able to work together to find a compromise before the session starts in April.