The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association (APA) have submitted a legal brief to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of an Arkansas law that prevents companies from operating both a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) and a pharmacy within the state.
The law, known as Act 624, was enacted earlier this year. It prohibits PBMs from also running pharmacies in Arkansas. The measure is intended to address potential conflicts of interest that may occur when PBMs, which manage prescription drug benefits for health plans, also own or operate pharmacies. In such cases, PBMs could potentially direct patients toward their own pharmacies and provide those locations with higher reimbursement rates than independent competitors receive.
Express Scripts, Inc., one of the largest PBMs and mail-order pharmacy operators globally, has filed a lawsuit against Arkansas seeking to overturn the law.
Arkansas Pharmacists Association CEO John Vinson commented on the issue: “The law protects patients by simply saying a business can either be a licensed PBM or a licensed pharmacy — but not both. PBMs are forcing our most vulnerable Arkansans — including those battling cancer — to use pharmacies owned by or affiliated with the PBMs, and in many cases forcing them to overpay with massive markups for the medications they depend on. This blatant conflict of interest leads to dangerous delays in treatment that threaten patients’ health and safety.”
NCPA represents nearly 19,000 independent pharmacies nationwide and has supported similar legislative efforts across several states.
B. Douglas Hoey, CEO of NCPA, stated: “The Arkansas law is a model for the country. Vertical integration has allowed a handful of giant corporations to control patients and create massive disadvantages for their competition. They deny patients the ability to choose their own health care providers, and they put a lot of small, independent pharmacies out of business, creating pharmacy deserts. The Arkansas law eliminates the obvious conflict of interest at the heart of the problem.”
More information about NCPA can be found at www.ncpa.org and about APA at www.aarx.org.
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