The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has expressed support for new federal reforms targeting pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices, which were signed into law by President Donald Trump. The reforms are included in a bill that funds the Department of Health and Human Services.
Under the new law, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to define and enforce “reasonable and relevant” contract terms for Medicare Part D. CMS will also have enforcement authority over these contracts. Additionally, the law aims to increase transparency by allowing CMS to monitor payment trends to pharmacies and track which pharmacies are included in PBM networks. A new category, essential retail pharmacies, has been established as part of this effort. The legislation also prohibits PBM compensation in Medicare Part D from being linked to a drug manufacturer’s list price, with the goal of lowering drug prices and reducing costs for taxpayers.
“Community pharmacy owners are the canary in the coal mine when it comes to federal or state prescription programs,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “For years, our members and we have been telling anyone who will listen — and worked to convince others who wouldn’t listen — about the PBM-insurer conglomerates gobbling up market share, driving up drug costs, crushing small-business pharmacies, and making it more difficult for patients to receive the care they need. We’ve been warning that unless action is taken, more pharmacies will close, and more pharmacy deserts will grow. Unfortunately, as time passed, we were proven correct and finally, there is action to help reverse these trends.
“We’re grateful to our champions in Congress and to the president for seeing these provisions across the finish line in the face of tremendous pressure by PBM-insurers to maintain the status quo,” Hoey continued. “The pharmacy payment model is changing, and we’ll keep fighting to secure the best possible outcomes for independent community and long-term care pharmacies and their patients.”
The passage of these measures follows extensive advocacy efforts by NCPA members over several years. These efforts included calls and messages to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, meetings with legislators during pharmacy visits, as well as other outreach activities. Recently, NCPA’s Finish the Fight campaign resulted in nearly 100,000 letters sent to Congress from patients calling for PBM reform. After relaunching this campaign with updated digital advertising materials in December 2025, over 12,000 additional letters were delivered within six weeks; earlier in 2024 alone saw more than 80,000 messages sent.
NCPA represents more than 18,900 community pharmacies across the United States that employ over 235,000 people nationwide.
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