Pharmacy groups seek PBM reforms

Pharmacists gathered at the Capitol Thursday to call for reform of pharmacy benefit managers. They say the PBMs are pushing independent pharmacies out of business and making drugs less affordable.

It looked like a pep rally for pharmacists outside the Capitol. Dozens in white coats cheered on Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who is pushing a bill that would regulate a little known group that impacts drug costs.

They’re called Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs.

“We are finally going to hold the PBMs accountable,” Wyden said.

PBMs are a go-between for health insurance providers and drug makers to negotiate prices. The pharmacists say PBMs are putting them out of business.

“I’ve had to close four stores over the last two years,” Jack Holt said.

Holt is President of Hi-School Pharmacy and runs 23 pharmacies across Washington and Oregon, but that number is shrinking. He says PBMS aren’t fully paying back pharmacies for the drugs they dispense.

“The reimbursements by the middlemen known as PBMs were so low I could no longer afford to operate at a loss,” Holt said.

Michele Belcher says small businesses like her family owned pharmacy are hurt the most.

“To think that I may have to close, and we’re the last independent pharmacy in Grants Pass, it makes me tremendously sad,” Belcher said.

According to the National Community Pharmacists Association, 307 independent pharmacies closed in 2023.

Wyden says his bill will help keep pharmacies afloat– and cut out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers.

“These middlemen have been pricing lifesaving medicines out of reach for patients that need ’em for one reason, so they can pad their profits, and we’re here to say those days are going to end,” Wyden said.

Lawmakers from both parties support the bill. Wyden says he’s working to get a vote on the Senate floor soon.

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