In all, Klingensmith’s Drug Store President David J. Cippel was happy about news Wednesday of the signing of House Bill 1993 into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
But Cippel also noted some mixed feelings he has about the new law, which according to a press release issued yesterday, provides desperately needed reforms to how pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) operate in Pennsylvania.
“It’s not everything that pharmacy was hoping for, but it should provide some stability going forward that rural communities will hopefully still have a pharmacy to (meet) their healthcare needs, (and provide them with) immunizations and prescription drugs,” said Cippel when reached by telephone yesterday.
The release stated a coalition of community pharmacists praised the signing of the bill into law, which took place at a bill signing at Hometown Pharmacy in New Castle, which has served its community since 1997.
“This year alone, over 140 pharmacies have closed their doors,” said Victoria E. Elliott, CEO of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, in the release. “This law is a strong step forward in helping to protect access to local pharmacies for Pennsylvania families. We want to thank Gov. Shapiro for his leadership in calling for PBM reforms in his budget address.”
PBMs are supposed to negotiate good prices with drug companies for prescription drugs through Medicaid, but the savings aren’t passed on to health insurers, community pharmacies and patients. Instead, those Medicaid dollars are going right into the pockets of PBMs, the release states.
