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Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘A lifeline': Alabama legislators pass bill locally-owned pharmacies say will keep them in business
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Locally owned Alabama pharmacies have been closing their doors at a rapid rate, but a bill that passed the state legislature Tuesday will change how they are reimbursed, aiming to keep more independent pharmacies open. Huntsville-based Star Discount Pharmacy Director Trent McLemore said he would not have expected to see this day six months ago, and he believes this bill will create a more fair system. Congressman Mike Rogers says Space Command relocation announcement could come in April 'It is literally a lifeline for independent pharmacies, for small businesses, which is what really matters,' McLemore said. He said local pharmacies have been getting paid less than their larger, corporate counterparts. SB 252, called the Community Pharmacy Relief Act, will put new regulations on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). PBMs are the middlemen who work between pharmacies and insurance companies. They decide how much money a pharmacy will be reimbursed for filling a prescription. The legislation directs PBMs to take 100% of the rebate money they get from drug makers in connection with Alabama contracts and pay the money to Alabama health insurance providers. The money will be used to make sure independent pharmacists are paid a $10.64 dispensing fee. The measure still needs Gov. Kay Ivey's signature to become said that while pharmacies will be paid more, patients will not see cost increases. 'Your co-pays will not go up when this starts,' McLemore said. 'Your premiums won't go up, and ultimately, you'll have more options as soon as the governor signs this.' Patients should now pay the same co-pay at any in-network pharmacy. 'No longer will it be, 'Well, I'm sorry. We can only fill here twice, and you have to get a mail order, or I can only fill for 30 days versus 90 days, or the co-pay is way higher at an independent,'' McLemore said. 'Those will all be on an equal playing field.' McLemore said that when the cost of getting a prescription filled is not a determining factor anymore, he believes competition will be driven by customer service. 'It makes it about patient care instead of about dollars again,' McLemore said. Letters addressed to Alabama House members contained pornographic images: ALEA He said the passage of the bill is a win for David against Goliath. 'Being able to know that we won't get paid below our cost is a lifesaving grace for a lot of independent pharmacies,' McLemore said. More than 100 Alabama pharmacies have closed in the past four years, state figures show. The Alabama Legislature has also called for a multi-year study looking into how PBMs are operating in the state and identify any practices that are decreasing positive competition between pharmacies. McLemore said he hopes the study will inspire more legislation down the line, like expanding access to specialty pharmacy drugs. 'Specialty pharmacy accounts for about half of PBM profits right now,' McLemore said. 'Those are your very expensive items. These are the drugs you see on TV commercials, and they cost tens of thousands of dollars.' Specialty pharmacy drugs are excluded from the current legislation. Pharmacies will begin receiving reimbursements on October 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘We're fighting to keep them open': pharmacies across the state struggle to make ends meet
ALABAMA (WHNT) — Bags crinkling and staplers snapping are heard less and less at pharmacies across Alabama. Pharmacists in the state, like Bob Giles with the Alabama Pharmacy Association, said they are not reimbursed properly by Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs. In short, they said they lose money when they fill prescriptions for patients. Pharmacists across Alabama to participate in walkout for PBM reform 'There's not a business out there, health care provider or otherwise, that can continually be paid less than the cost of dispensing or less than the cost to provide that service and stay in business,' Giles said. Roughly 13% of drugstores across Alabama have closed since 2018, according to the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance. In response to the complications and challenges within the pharmacy industry in recent years, some local pharmacies are temporarily shutting their doors on February 25 at 1 p.m. The walkout is in support of Senate Bill 93, a bill proposing to reform the current payout structure. '93 is a very, condensed version of the Fair Meds Act that was introduced last year in the House,' Giles said. 'So it addresses reimbursement. It addresses transparency and the ability to tell the truth, gets rid of the fees associated with network participation and then has enforcement.' Your Wellbeing: The importance of heart health in young patients While most pharmacies feel the impacts of current state policies, not all are participating in the walkout, such as Huntsville's own Star Discount Pharmacy. Trent McLemore, the Director of Star Discount Pharmacy, said they support all reform efforts. He added that the pharmacy has made an effort to educate all their patients about the struggles pharmacies face over the last 11 months. Because of those efforts, he said participation in the protest seemed unnecessary. 'I felt it sent the wrong message to close our doors when we're fighting to keep them open,' McLemore said. McLemore presented to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on February 19 in favor of reform, focused on the protections Star Discount Pharmacy has at its Tennessee location. He said they have sent roughly $12 million across state lines since August to keep their doors in Alabama open. 'They passed legislation in Tennessee to protect their pharmacies, all pharmacies, from being paid below cost,' McLemore told News 19. 'As a result, we've sent quite a number of prescriptions, a lot of business to our Tennessee store. It's been able to allow us to keep our patients here, not turn them away. Not tell them they have to find their medication elsewhere because we're taking a loss.' McLemore's presentation showed support for Senate Bill 99, not 93. He said the two have a lot of similarities in the reform they want for pharmacies, but that SB 99 offers protections for employers. 'SB 99 and SB 93 both protect the patient from any increase in cost,' McLemore said. 'SB 99 also protects the employer by requiring rebates to be passed back to them. Employers, patients, pharmacies, everybody wins except for the PBMs.' McLemore emphasized the importance of having local pharmacies in the community. 'We, as independent pharmacies, show up after hours and take care of somebody,' McLemore said. 'We're the ones that, you know, take care of you when no one else will.' Giles said the reforms proposed in state legislation do not affect any federally funded healthcare plans, such as Medicare. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
