Prescribing reform: Alabama pharmacists walk out, what they say lawmakers can do to keep them in business
Pharmacists across the state staged walkouts in support of legislation aimed at keeping pharmacy doors open. Over 100 pharmacies participated.
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'We are closing our doors for two hours today,' Tonja Lowery at Elberta Pharmacy said. 'But what if it was forever? That's what's happening in our state and across the nation.'
For Tonja Lowery at Elberta Pharmacy and many others like her, it all comes down to the pharmacy's revenue.
'It's a sad time when we're making more money off selling a Coca-Cola versus a prescription,' she said.
The walkouts support legislation to reform pharmacy benefit managers also known as a PBM. PBMs decide which medications are covered by insurance and set prices such as co-pays and how much money pharmacies are reimbursed for medications they provide.
Pharmacist Clint Howard at Midtown Pharmacy in Mobile said current reimbursements often don't even cover the cost of filling the prescription.
'Yesterday I filled a prescription, the insurance company, the PBM, they paid me 15 cents. I mean, my bottle costs more than that. The lid to my bottle costs more than that,' Howard said. 'I've got a 90-day supply of a patient's life-saving heart medication, and they're going to give me 15 cents. You can't continue and do business when someone is only paying you a dime for prescriptions that they fill.'
Semmes Pharmacy in Mobile County also showed their support Tuesday by wearing all black resembling the pharmaceutical funeral that supporters say may happen if the proposed legislation doesn't pass.
'All we're asking for is just a fair shake, you know,' Willie Dunnam at Semmes Pharmacy said. 'That's what Senate Bills 93 and 99 are aimed to do. Fair reimbursement, fair prices for the customer, instead of those rebates going to the billion dollar companies.'
Meanwhile, opponents of the bills point to fees that would be tacked onto each prescription and how those fees could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in extra drugs costs statewide each year.
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'A lot of people are reporting that it's going to be a fee or a tax on the patient. That's not true,' Lowery said. 'This has nothing to do with the patient paying more. It's definitely just about the insurance companies being forced to pay us more.'
Pharmacists across the state want to encourage everyone to reach out to their elected officials and let them know that the small pharmacies need their help.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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