Benham closes out statewide pharmacy tour with stops in southeastern PA

Celebrates new law to reform pharmacy benefit manager policy

Rep. Jessica Benham    August 27, 2024 | 2:39 PM

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 27 – For the final two stops of her statewide “Save the Pharmacies” tour, state Rep. Jes­­­­sica Benham held news conferences in Delaware and Philadelphia counties with other lawmakers and local pharmacists to highlight how Act 77 of 2024 (H.B. 1993) will benefit community pharmacies and patients across the commonwealth.

“This law is going to help lower prescription drug costs for patients and support independently owned pharmacies in rural, suburban, and urban communities across Pennsylvania,” said Benham, D-Allegheny. “Pharmacy benefit managers have played a huge part in making medicine so expensive and I’m thrilled the legislature came together to finally reel them in by passing H.B. 1993.”

Benham said her bill that Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law limits or bans specific pharmacy benefit manager practices, including patient steering, retroactive recoupment of money paid by the PBM to the pharmacy and forcing prescriptions to be ordered by mail. It also requires transparency reports on PBMs to be submitted to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and gives PID more oversight on PBMs.

“PBMs are the ones that regulate what pharmacies get paid to fill prescriptions for patients, said Chichi Ilonzo Momah, CEO of Springfield Pharmacy. “But it’s been a lot of work trying to get PBMs to explain how they come up with the formula they use and be transparent about pricing.”

“Anyone from Delaware County knows that Chichi and Springfield Pharmacy have been instrumental to public health in our community before, during, and after the COVID-19 crisis,” said state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware, who co-hosted Monday’s news conference at Springfield Pharmacy. “Our local pharmacies are always there for us when we need them and I’m proud we got this bill across the finish line to ensure pharmacies like Springfield can continue their lifesaving work.”

"Our Commonwealth’s community pharmacies ensure Pennsylvanians in underserved areas across the Commonwealth help patients get connected with the care they need in their community. The closure of any pharmacies due to the overburden from PBMs is unacceptable, and that’s why legislation like H.B. 1993 and the companion legislation I co-authored, S.B. 1000, were so critically needed,” said state Sen. Christine Tartaglione, D-Phila, who co-hosted today’s news conference at Philadelphia Pharmacy.

“By addressing PBM practices such as patient steering, spread pricing, lack of transparency, and more, we are taking a sorely needed step towards relieving our community pharmacies and our constituents who rely on them. I am thankful for the bicameral, bipartisan efforts that will protect Pennsylvanians and the pharmacies they rely on.”

“When pharmacists are paid under the cost to fill a prescription, there is no possible way to survive. We’re underwater on many prescriptions because of unfair reimbursements by PBMs and MCOs,” said Richard Ost, former owner of Philadelphia Pharmacy and current owner of Somerset Pharmacy. “PBMs are some of the most profitable corporations while pharmacies are going out of business. This law is a great start and I’m grateful to Rep. Benham and Sen. Tartaglione. We have more to do.”

“If you’re a big chain pharmacy like CVS or Rite Aid, you have a successful business model in the current market,” said state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Phila. “But for small community pharmacies, they’re actually losing money trying to serve their neighbors and patients. That’s wrong. We know it’s wrong. And that’s what this new law aims to address.”

Photos and video from the Springfield event are available.

Video from the Philadelphia event is available.

Benham’s bipartisan tour stopped at community pharmacies in more than a dozen counties this year, including Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Erie, Greene, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Schuylkill, and Westmoreland.