“It's a devastating crisis for all of those communities where those HomeTown Pharmacies are closing. That means there's one less point of care and contact.”
Miguel Rodriguez, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of advocacy group American Pharmacies, says the root cause of independent pharmacy closures is the Pharmacy Benefit Manager or PBM system.
“There's these middlemen that are these giant mega corporations called pharmacy benefit managers. They also own insurance companies. They own other mail order pharmacies, and they control what prices that patients pay. They control what drugs are covered, and they control how much pharmacies are paid for providing medicine to patients.”
Rodriguez explains pharmacies are often reimbursed less than the cost of the medicine itself while PMB-owned companies sometimes directly compete with Michigan’s independent pharmacies.
“The three largest control 80% of every pharmacy claim in the country. Those three companies are part of the Fortune 11, the top eleven highest- revenue corporations in the country are these three pharmacy benefit managers.”
Michigan state lawmakers are holding hearings and roundtable discussions with pharmacies to understand the impact of PBMs and to consider possible reforms.
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