Feds zoning in on PBM practices crushing small pharmacies and patients
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (May 13, 2024) – The National Community Pharmacists Association today issued the following statement on behalf of CEO B. Douglas Hoey in response to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice of a new task force focused on corporate monopolies in the health care sector:
“This is a very encouraging development and it’s long overdue. The PBM/insurance conglomerates are among the most aggressive, ruthless, and predatory corporate actors in the entire economy. The largest corporate pharmacy in the world owns the largest PBM in the world. The other large PBMs are owned by, or entangled with, some of the largest insurance companies in the world. These corporate Frankenstein monsters use their size and leverage to starve community pharmacies by often paying them less than what the pharmacy pays for the medicine and steering community pharmacies’ patients into their own retail pharmacies, or their own mail-order and specialty pharmacies. These anticompetitive business practices are leading to reduced access to care for patients and higher prescription costs.
“We are grateful to Assistant Attorney General Kanter for this initiative, and we are more than happy to cooperate in any way we can. Industry data shows that independent pharmacies are closing at a rate of roughly one per day. Americans are losing their most trusted and most accessible health care providers, and it’s mostly because of the unfair practices of the PBM/insurance cartels.”
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