A bill making its way to the Alabama House would add a “dispensing fee” of $10.64 to the cost of prescription drugs, according to reports.

However, opponents of House Bill 238 say it would burden customers and companies providing health insurance with greater costs.

The Insurance Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives approved the bill by voice vote on Wednesday. It will proceed to the state House.

According to the Alabama Daily News, the bill requires pharmacy benefit managers — who manage drug benefits for insurers — to reimburse in-network pharmacies for the cost of acquiring medication.

That comes along with a dispensing fee, set by the federal government and used in programs like Medicaid.

Supporters say the money would help cover pharmacists’ operating costs.

The bill would also prohibit “pharmacy benefits manufacturers from starting an investigation against a pharmacy for fraud, waste, or abuse without reasonable suspicion.”

Its sponsor, Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-Huntsville, is a pharmacist who sold his independent pharmacy and said the bill would help pharmacists, particularly those in rural areas, cope with the costs associated with providing certain medications.

Some groups, such as the business healthcare policy group, the Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers, whose website bears a red “Vote No on HB 238″ banner at the top of its page.

The Alliance says the bill, if signed into law, will add about $1,100 of extra costs per family a year.

The bill does not address the real problem, drug prices set by pharmaceutical companies, The Alliance said.

“To my knowledge, there is not another health care provider or any other profession or business in the state that is guaranteed a profit,” Alliance Executive Director Roger Stone told the House committee Wednesday.