Legislation aimed at saving pharmacies signed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro

By Meghan Schiller

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    PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Governor Shapiro signed legislation Wednesday aiming to save local pharmacies from going out of business. Since January 1, more than 140 pharmacies in Pennsylvania have shut down, according to proponents of the bill.

A KDKA investigation first profiled those struggling pharmacists in March. At issue is the role of pharmacy benefits managers, who are middlemen between the insurance companies and pharmacies.

The state legislation signed Wednesday aims to create more transparency in that process. It’s a win in the pharmacies’ fight to stop losing money on every prescription filled.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Jessica Benham led that fight. One day while standing in line at Spartan Pharmacy, the owner pulled her aside and brought the concerns to her attention.

Countless pharmacists and lawmakers pushed House Bill 1993 across the finish line. For communities who rely on these pharmacies, it means they now have a fighting shot at staying open.

“I was very hopeful. I think you have to have faith in the process and it really was a great process from that perspective, from both sides of the aisle coming together to allow the bill to come to fruition,” said Rick Siepp, the vice president of pharmacy strategy for Value Drug Company.

The battle against “spread pricing”

Benham said she also wanted a ban on something called “spread pricing,” but didn’t get it.

“Spread pricing is when a pharmacy benefits manager overcharges the insurance company and underpays your community pharmacy,” Benham explained.

Instead, there will now be a study to get more data on how this practice impacts consumers.

“I can understand why the Senate would want to see additional data, but my hope is once we have that data in, we are going to be able to make continued progress,” she continued.

Hurting small businesses

It’s an issue that impacts everyone’s wallet. Pennsylvania Sen. Devlin Robinson said these pharmacy benefits managers are hurting small businesses.

“We know that pharmacies are an anchor for a lot of neighborhoods and we want to make sure that they’re competing in a fair marketplace,” Robinson stated.

Pharmacist Adam Rice told KDKA that he wants transparency. This legislation will give the Pennsylvania Insurance Department more oversight over pharmacy benefit managers.

“The Auditor General of the state cannot open their books and audit them. How is that possible? Everybody gets audited. Insurance companies get audited. Pharmacies get audited, but the guy playing with the money in the middle is unable to get audited,” Rice said.

Update to Pennsylvania’s Cancer Drug Repository Program

In another update to a KDKA Investigation, a grieving father spoke to KDKA looking to donate his late daughter’s unused, and unopened cancer drugs, but he was unable to find anyone to take them.

KDKA Investigates exposed that the state cancer drug repository program existed in name only, with only two pharmacies signed up statewide to receive unused cancer drugs from medical institutions.

Following that report, the state did outreach for the program and now 20 pharmacies are signed up statewide.

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