Latest news with #HB1150
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CVS sues Arkansas over new pharmacy law
ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — CVS Health has filed a federal lawsuit against a new Arkansas law that it says unfairly targets out-of-state pharmacies and breaks several parts of the U.S. Constitution. The law, called House Bill 1150 (HB 1150), was signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year and will start on January 1, 2026. It aims to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and stops pharmacies connected to PBMs from operating in Arkansas. In the suit, CVS said the law is 'engineered to protect local pharmacy interests from competition with out-of-state pharmacies' like itself. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, says HB 1150 basically bans most PBM-affiliated pharmacies, including CVS, from selling prescription drugs in Arkansas. PBMs act as middlemen between insurance companies, drug makers and pharmacies. They negotiate drug prices and manage pharmacy benefits for health plans. Some big pharmacy chains, like CVS, have their own PBMs or work with them. HB 1150 only allows pharmacies connected to PBMs to operate in Arkansas if the PBM serves only its own employees' health plan — a rule that mainly benefits Walmart, the state's biggest employer, CVS claims in the suit. Gov. Sanders signs bill that prevents pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies CVS also claims the law breaks the Dormant Commerce Clause because it discriminates against out-of-state businesses, the Equal Protection Clause because it treats similar businesses unfairly and the Supremacy Clause because it conflicts with federal laws like ERISA and Medicare rules. CVS says if the law takes effect, it will have to close its 23 stores in Arkansas and stop its mail-order and specialty pharmacy services used by 'tens of thousands of Arkansans.' HB-1150-Complaint-5-29-2025Download The full lawsuit can be viewed above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
20-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Essential national retailer chain closing more stores (see where)
Retailers must evolve to meet changing consumers demands. They also have to continually evaluate their brick-and-mortar footprint to account for changing populations and demographics. Some restaurants, coffee shops, and convenience stores, for example, were built because they were near offices. That allowed office workers to conveniently grab coffee, lunch, and items they might need for home. Related: Forget WeWork, another coworking brand files Chapter 7 bankruptcy If some of those offices close or move to hybrid work models, nearby businesses become less neccessary. Fewer people means fewer cups of coffee, sandwiches, and other things sold. That has led thousands of restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacies, and convenience stores to close. The closures said nothing about the overall health of those companies. They happened because the people who supported those locations simply no longer walk by those stores as often, or maybe even at all. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Starbucks, for example, closes hundreds of stores every few years. Sometimes that's because a lease ends and a better location has opened up. In other cases, it's because the population has shifted. Now one popular retailer that had been closing hundreds of stores, mostly due to the factors listed above, faces closing dozens more for a reason that has nothing to do with the success of those locations. CVS Health (CVS) has been working to right-size its store fleet. That has involved significant cuts, albeit in a planned, surgical manner. The company's Executive Vice President David Joyner talked about those closures during CVS's third-quarter earnings call. "By the end of November, we will have completed our previously announced three-year store optimization initiative targeting 900 stores and expect to close approximately 270 stores in 2025," he said. Joyner made it clear that the company takes these decisions very seriously. "We recognize the importance of retail pharmacy in the communities we serve and will continue to be thoughtful and deliberate as we execute on our footprint optimization efforts," he added. Retail bankruptcies: Popular restaurant and bar chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyPopular athletic shoe chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcyAward-winning cosmetics brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Joyner also noted that the chain is doing more than just closing stores. "We have also been deliberate in enhancing the durability and strength of our store operations to ensure we consistently serve our role as a community health destination. This was clear in the aftermath of the recent hurricanes. Our colleagues were instrumental in ensuring our operations were back online quickly, with most stores open with 48 hours," he added. Now, CVS may be forced to close a number of stores it had intended to keep open. Arkansas has a new state law, HB1150, that prohibits state permits to pharmacies owned by pharmacy benefit managers effective Jan. 1, 2026. "Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are companies that work with health insurers, large employers, and other payers to manage their prescription drug benefits," according to CVS serves as PBM, and that could force it to close 23 stores in the state. The pharmacy chain shared a statement on the issue. "CVS Health welcomes a good-faith discussion with policymakers in Arkansas and across the country on ways to make medicine more affordable and accessible. Unfortunately, HB1150 is bad policy that accomplishes just the opposite: it will take away access to pharmacy care in local communities, hike prescription drug spending across the state by millions of dollars each year, and cost hundreds of Arkansans their jobs," Drugstore News reported. Related: Major bank closing 20% of its locations Closing these locations would cause 500 people to lose their jobs, according to CVS. This issue could grow beyond Arkansas for CVS. "Since the introduction of HB 1150, similar ownership provisions were introduced or amended into bills in Indiana, New York, Texas and Vermont. Additionally, on April 14, a bipartisan coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass legislation prohibiting PBMs from owning or operating pharmacies," according to the website. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas governor signs first-in-the-nation ban on drug middlemen owning pharmacies
Greg Reybold (seated), vice president of Healthcare Policy at the American Pharmacy Cooperative, expresses support for Arkansas banning pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacy permits at the Arkansas Capitol on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. At right is John Vinson, CEO of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, who also supported the policy. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas became the first state in the nation to prevent healthcare conglomerates from operating drugstores here when Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed House Bill 1150 on Wednesday. State law already regulates what pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) pay to reimburse independent pharmacies, but pharmacists have complained that the companies violate the law. The state has also fined four PBMs a total of $1.47 million for paying Arkansas pharmacies below the legally required amount for prescription drugs. PBMs negotiate prescription benefits among drug manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and health insurance providers, and the biggest ones also own pharmacies and insurers. The Federal Trade Commission released an interim report in July 2024 saying these conglomerates are eliminating competition and increasing drug prices at the expense of patients. HB 1150 headed to Sanders' desk April 9 after clearing the Senate with a bipartisan 26 votes, six days after it passed the House with 89 votes. The bill generated hours of discussion and public comment in the House and Senate committees on Insurance and Commerce this month. 'These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable for their anticompetitive actions,' Sanders said in a statement Wednesday. CVS Health issued a statement last week urging Sanders to veto HB 1150, calling it 'misguided policy.' The organization, which includes the CVS Caremark PBM, issued another statement Wednesday afternoon. 'CVS Health welcomes a good faith discussion with policy makers in Arkansas and across the country on ways to make medicine more affordable and accessible,' the statement said. 'Unfortunately, HB1150 is bad policy that accomplishes just the opposite: it will take away access to pharmacy care in local communities, hike prescription drug spending across the state by millions of dollars each year, and cost hundreds of Arkansans their jobs.' Federal regulator: Pharmacy middlemen appear to be raising prices, hurting patients Arkansas has 23 CVS pharmacies that CVS and other opponents of HB 1150 said will be forced to close under the new law. Arkansas Pharmacists Association CEO John Vinson said this is not true and pharmacies can still operate if they detach from PBMs. Sanders, Vinson and other supporters of HB 1150 have said a lack of sufficient regulation of PBMs has allowed them to monopolize the pharmaceutical industry by setting their competitors' prices. OptumRX, Express Scripts and CVS Caremark — the three largest PBMs — are each owned by much larger corporations that each also own a top-10 health insurer. Together they control about 80% of the U.S. prescription market, according to last year's Federal Trade Commission report. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Act 1 and Act 3 of 2018 prohibit PBMs from reimbursing their affiliated pharmacies in Arkansas at a higher rate than their competitors, locally owned independent pharmacies. PBMs routinely break these laws, said Vinson and HB 1150's Republican sponsors, Sen. Kim Hammer of Benton and Rep. Jeremiah Moore of Clarendon. PBMs have allegedly also violated Act 900 of 2015, which required PBMs to pay pharmacies at least as much as the national average of what drugstores pay wholesalers for drugs. Pharmacies sent the Arkansas Insurance Department (AID) thousands of complaints in 2024, claiming PBMs either illegally paid them below this national average or paid them at or just above this amount, independent pharmacists and AID's general counsel told lawmakers last year. Pharmacy benefit managers will have to pay Arkansas drugstores dispensing fees under new rule This led the Arkansas Legislative Council to require PBMs to include dispensing fees in their reimbursements for prescription drugs. The panel approved the rule a day after its Administrative Rules subcommittee rejected it. Hammer told the Senate Insurance committee April 8 that the Legislature should not be 'rewarding' violators of state law 'by letting them stay in business.' 'Congress is pursuing this issue. Why? Because states like Arkansas are not sitting on the sidelines and being quiet about it,' Hammer said. '[If you say], 'Let's sit back and wait for Congress,' like sitting back and waiting for the Lord to come, it ain't going to happen soon enough.' After more than a century serving Hammer's constituents in Benton, Smith-Caldwell Drug Store closed in August 2023 due to financial insolvency and transferred its clients to Walgreens, a national chain that isn't part of a PBM. Brad Lawson, a Little Rock-based healthcare supervisor for Walgreens, told lawmakers in December that unfair PBM reimbursements have forced the company to close several locations and plan further closures nationwide. Walgreens declined to comment Thursday on HB 1150. In an April 4 interview with the Advocate, CVS leaders said the Caremark PBM not only complies with Arkansas law but also reimburses independent pharmacies at a higher rate than its own chain pharmacies. They also said employers whose health insurance plans include CVS will face higher costs. This is not grassroots opposition to this bill. This is astroturf. – Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, who supported HB 1150 'Patients are choosing us, they have a choice, and I think we're not allowing patients to have a choice in this bill,' Chief Pharmacy Officer Lucille Accetta said. When asked about HB 1150's potential financial impact on CVS, Accetta and Vice President of External Relations David Whitrap said the losses of pharmacists' jobs and patients' access to medication are higher priorities than money. CVS closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020 and 900 more stores between 2021 and 2024. CVS District Leader of Pharmacy Operations Ashley Ellis spoke against the bill at both Insurance and Commerce committee meetings, saying she and her colleagues would lose their jobs if HB 1150 becomes law. Ellis lives in Greenbrier, represented by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View. Irvin was in the minority of Senate committee members to vote against HB 1150, and she said she would not vote for a constituent to lose her job. Hammer said the potential loss of CVS employees' jobs is 'a lie.' 'If they want to argue these local [corporate] pharmacies shouldn't be going out of business because they get paid adequately, fine,' he said. 'Put your money where your mouth is. Prove it. Start paying yourselves like you're paying these others.' Several lawmakers said this month that they supported HB 1150 partly because they received emails urging them to vote against it that appeared to be from constituents but turned out to be from lobbyists opposing the legislation. Rep. Richard McGrew, R-Hot Springs, told the House Insurance Committee that CVS clients in his district had not consented to their names being used for this purpose. Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, told the equivalent Senate committee that he received similar misleading emails. 'This is not grassroots opposition to this bill,' Johnson said. 'This is astroturf.' Besides CVS Health, opponents of HB 1150 included the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, the Navitus Health Solutions PBM, and the Omnicare and Accredo pharmacies. Omnicare is owned by CVS Health, and Accredo is a subsidiary of Express Scripts. Several PBMs are affiliated with interstate mail-order pharmacy operations, and House Bill 1150 includes mail-order pharmacy permits among those that PBMs would be prohibited from holding. Opponents of HB 1150 said it would reduce patients' access to specialty drugs, some of which might only be accessible via mail-order services — including for military members and veterans who receive pharmaceuticals via the Tricare insurance program's partnership with Express Scripts. HB 1150 allows the State Board of Pharmacy to issue limited permits to PBMs if they provide 'drugs that are otherwise unavailable in the market to a patient or a pharmacy that would otherwise be prohibited' under the law. Hammer told the Senate this will allow Tricare beneficiaries to continue receiving medications while PBMs transition out of Arkansas. Despite being a veteran on Tricare, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's pharmacy services have been moved from one provider to another by PBM interference, he said in January at a news conference announcing HB 1150. He also said he would defend the legislation in court if it were challenged. On Monday, Griffin was the lead signatory of a bipartisan letter to Congress from attorneys general in 39 states and territories, advocating for the policy in HB 1150 to be enacted federally. Griffin sued Express Scripts and OptumRX last year, alleging that they used data from drug manufacturers and distributors to maximize their financial gain instead of using it to mitigate the opioid addiction epidemic. Put your money where your mouth is... Start paying yourselves like you're paying these others. – Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, a primary sponsor of House Bill 1150 Irvin was one of nine senators, mostly Republicans, to vote against HB 1150 last week. She disputed the claim that PBMs have a monopoly in the pharmaceutical industry, saying this is only an opinion without a court's declaration. Senate Minority Whip Fred Love, D-Mabelvale, was the chamber's only Democrat to vote against the bill. Love's district does not have any local independent pharmacies, and his constituents will lose access to medications if corporate pharmacies like CVS close, he said. 'They've been talking to me saying, 'Guess what? This will hurt us,'' Love said. 'So we're going to manufacture a pharmacy desert in southwest Little Rock? That's not good for my people.' Irvin also took issue with a statement April 8 from Greg Reybold, vice president of Healthcare Policy at the American Pharmacy Cooperative, that HB 1150 will 'take the ball away' from PBMs in Arkansas' pharmacy industry. 'We're using the government to say, 'We're getting rid of your competition,'' Irvin said. '…It says that we're denying a permit to be approved for you, but not for you. You're picking winners and losers.' GOP Sen. Justin Boyd, a Fort Smith pharmacist and the vice chairman of the Senate Insurance committee, argued that PBMs' ability to set their competitors' prices is actually 'picking winners and losers.' Another 2025 Arkansas law that supporters said will increase patients' access to medication is Act 52, which removed the state's ban on nonprofit hospitals holding pharmacy permits. The bill, co-sponsored by Irvin, initially failed in the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee but later passed after being amended. The Arkansas Pharmacists Association opposed Act 52 before it was amended. Vinson told the Senate Insurance committee that Act 52 will create new pharmacy jobs that could make up for any job loss brought about by HB 1150. Both laws will go into effect in August. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CVS shares statement after Arkansas bill restricting PBMs from owning pharmacies is signed into law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – CVS officials said a new law restricting Pharmacy Benefit Managers from owning pharmacies will result in the closure of more than 20 Arkansas pharmacies. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB1150 into law on Wednesday afternoon. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bill blocking PBM ownership of pharmacies into law CVS Health released a statement shortly after the governor signed the bill into law, flatly calling the law 'bad policy.' 'CVS Health welcomes a good faith discussion with policy makers in Arkansas and across the country on ways to make medicine more affordable and accessible,' CVS shared in a statement. 'Unfortunately, HB1150 is bad policy that accomplishes just the opposite: it will take away access to pharmacy care in local communities, hike prescription drug spending across the state by millions of dollars each year, and cost hundreds of Arkansans their jobs.' According to CVS, they have 23 pharmacies across the state. They also noted that this law will close more than 100 mail-order pharmacies in Arkansas. Arkansas bill would prevent Pharmacy Benefit Managers from owning pharmacies Sanders said signing the bill was a matter of taking care of an overdue need. 'For far too long, drug middlemen called PBMs have taken advantage of lax regulations to abuse customers, inflate drug prices, and cut off access to critical medications. Not anymore,' the governor said. 'These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable for their anti-competitive actions, but Arkansas has never been afraid to be a conservative leader for America.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas bans pharmacy benefit managers from owning pharmacies in state
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation Wednesday prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from owning or operating pharmacies, becoming the first state to enact such a restriction. The measure comes as other states are considering restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, which run prescription drug coverage for big clients that include health insurers and employers that provide coverage. Supporters of the restrictions have said pharmacy benefit managers are forcing independent pharmacies, especially in rural areas, out of business. 'For far too long, drug middlemen called PBMs have taken advantage of lax regulations to abuse customers, inflate drug prices, and cut off access to critical medications. Not anymore,' Sanders said in a statement released by her office. CVS Health has been running TV ads in the state opposing the bill and urging Sanders to veto it. CVS officials have said the legislation would force the company to close 23 pharmacies in the state and would disrupt service for thousands of customers. The company on Wednesday it welcomed a discussion with policymakers in Arkansas and other states on ways to make medicine more affordable and accessible. 'Unfortunately, HB1150 is bad policy that accomplishes just the opposite: it will take away access to pharmacy care in local communities, hike prescription drug spending across the state by millions of dollars each year, and cost hundreds of Arkansans their jobs,' CVS Health said in statement. Thirty-nine attorneys general urged Congress this week to pass legislation similar to Arkansas' law prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers from owning or operating pharmacies. In the letter, the attorneys general said such legislation "would foster fair competition and promote choice and transparency for the American people." The Arkansas ban, however, has drawn criticism from some lawmakers who said it is anticompetitive. 'The government should not be put in the position of saying, 'Guess what, we don't like our competition and we're going use the government and the law to put our competition out of business,' " Republican Sen. Missy Irvin during debate over the measure in the Senate this month. Several other states have taken up other pharmacy benefit manager restrictions this year. In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday signed legislation that will require pharmacy benefit managers to reimburse independent pharmacists at least at the state Medicaid rate for prescription drugs. Dozens of independent pharmacies, many in rural areas, have shuttered in Alabama over the last two years, according to the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance. Pharmacists said that is because it can often cost more to dispense a drug than they are reimbursed by pharmacy benefit managers. The alliance called the new Alabama law a historic milestone but added 'there is still work to be done.' 'SB252 is only the first step in dismantling the corrupt behemoth that is responsible for the increased cost of healthcare in Alabama, all at the expense of pharmacies, employers and patients," the group said in a statement Tuesday. "AIPA will continue to work with legislators to accomplish this goal.' ___ Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama
