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Alabama pharmacists will participate in a statewide walkout on Tuesday in support of a proposed bill they say will help pharmacies survive.
According to the Alabama Pharmacy Association, pharmacists will walk out on Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. in support of SB93, or the Patient Access Bill. Every pharmacy participating will remain accessible to patients in some way.
“We have over 100 pharmacies in all areas of Alabama that are participating in some way,” said Louise Jones, the pharmacy association’s chief executive officer, in a press release.
“Pharmacists are naturally servant-hearted people, so closing goes against the grain of their personalities, but this is a necessary and very visible way to advocate for patient access and pharmacy survival with SB93 at the Statehouse.”
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, would impose reforms and fair reimbursement policies on pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, the association said in its press release.
“Pharmacies are struggling to keep their doors open as they are often reimbursed for medication at a price lower than their cost of dispensing the medication to the patient. We continue to lose pharmacies across Alabama every month,” the association said.
PBMs operate as intermediaries between pharmacies and health insurance companies while setting reimbursement rates on the medications that pharmacies dispense.
The association says that pharmacies are struggling to remain open due to PBMs offering reimbursements, “at a price lower than their cost of dispensing the medication to the patient.”
SB93 would prohibit PBMs from reimbursing pharmacies less than the cost of a medication or imposing miscellaneous fees on pharmacists. It would also give the Commissioner of Insurance more power to enforce any violations committed by PBMs.
Since 2018, roughly 13% of pharmacies in the state closed, according to the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance. Pharmacists told AL.com that they were losing money when filling prescriptions for patients.
The legislation would also eliminate a “gag-order” restricting pharmacists from informing patients of prescription drug costs and alternative treatments.
Several congressional reports detail that PBMs have raised prescription costs and negatively impacted the health care industry.
Although there is staunch support for the legislation there is also stiff opposition.
The Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers, a health care business policy organization, expressed its opposition to SB93 and a similar bill regulating PBMs, SB99.
Though no fee amount is provided in the bill, AAHC Executive Director Robin Stone contends that SB99 will add a $10.64 “dispensing fee” on all prescriptions in the state, amounting to an annual cost of $900 per individual or $3,600 for a family.
Stone said those figures come from a report by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a national association representing Pharmacy Benefit Managers.
“If this new proposed $10.64 dispensing fee for pharmacy owners is approved, it will be forced down the supply chain and will be paid by employers, families, and other consumers, and not Pharmacy Benefits Managers,” Stone said.
“These proposals will cost Alabamians at least an extra $900 per person or $3,600 for a family each year.”
However, supporters of both bills told a Senate committee last week that the cost of drugs distributed by PBMs would be lowered by terminating excessive prescription markups, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.
Multiple states, including Kentucky and West Virginia, have reported saving over $50 million after enacting PBM reforms.
Last year, a PBM reform bill died in the legislature but both SB93 and SB99 currently have bipartisan support from lawmakers.
The bills will likely be brought before another Senate committee for deliberation this week.
AL.com reporter Savannah Tryens-Fernandes contributed to this article.
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