The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) commends the introduction of the Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act, spearheaded by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The legislation includes the Medicaid pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms that are part of a comprehensive approach to dismantling the exploitative pricing tactics of PBM middlemen and to safeguarding Americans’ access to pharmacies that are vital to healthcare access.
The legislation addresses the harmful practice of spread pricing in Medicaid, where PBMs charge Medicaid more than they compensate pharmacies for medications – driving up costs for Medicaid, forcing pharmacies under-water on dispensed medications, and jeopardizing Americans’ healthcare access. As pharmacies shutter at a staggering rate of 3.7 per day, with over 5,800 closures since 2018 and 1,338 closures in 2023 alone, the need for reform is urgent and the cost of inaction is accelerating.
“These are among the PBM reforms needed right away by Americans and their pharmacies. These also are among the reforms backed overwhelmingly in the Congress on a bipartisan basis. Every day that PBM reform is delayed is another day that Americans pay inflated drug prices, that care gets more remote for people and for communities, and that pharmacies are forced out of business,” said NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, in a press release issued by the Senators.
Anderson continued, “NACDS thanks Senators Peter Welch, Roger Marshall, Mark Warner, and Bill Cassidy and the cosponsors for their continued leadership, and urges swift action by the Congress to right these wrongs of the middlemen’s pharmaceutical benefit manipulation.”
The bill has garnered robust support from healthcare stakeholders and is estimated to save Medicaid $2 billion over the next decade, underscoring the opportunity to enhance both fiscal responsibility and healthcare access.
With over 800 ZIP codes now lacking pharmacies, the urgency for legislative action is undeniable, highlighting the critical need to maintain access to essential pharmacy services across the nation.
