Benham, Cook hail new PBM law at Greene County pharmacy
Bipartisan news conference highlights impact of PBM reform on local pharmacies, patients
Rep. Jessica Benham July 25, 2024 | 3:10 PM
CARMICHAELS, July 25 – Continuing her statewide “Save the Pharmacies” tour, state Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Allegheny, joined state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Greene/Washington, at Curtis Pharmacy today to illustrate how her legislation (Act 77 of 2024) will help smaller pharmacies compete and make medication more affordable for the patients they serve.
“I’ve spoken with independent pharmacy owners in big cities, small towns, and everywhere in between,” said Benham. “And the story is always the same, that the pharmaceutical industry is currently set up to allow large corporations to dominate the market and drive up the cost of prescription drugs.
“Given the lack of oversight on pharmacy benefit managers, I’m not surprised more than 140 Pennsylvania pharmacies have closed this year. I know the new reforms Governor Shapiro signed into law last week will help more community pharmacies stay in business, and I’m so proud we were able to come together in a bipartisan fashion to get this done.”
Benham said the new law limits or bans specific PBM 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.
“Convenient access to affordable prescription drugs is absolutely vital to the health and well-being of our citizens, and we cannot achieve that mission without independent pharmacies like those represented here today,” Cook said. “By reforming the way PBMs operate, we can better protect these independent pharmacies and ensure they remain open to meet the needs of our communities.”
“There is bipartisan support at both the state and federal level for PBM reform -- that speaks to the significance of the issue,” said Curtis Pharmacy owner Erich Cushey. “We’ve had many local pharmacies close, and the chains are pushing us out. This new law is a great start, and we appreciate the governor and both sides of the aisle in passing the bill, but there will be more work to be done.”
Photos from today’s event are available here.
Reaching urban, suburban, and rural communities across Pennsylvania, Benham’s bipartisan tour has stopped at independently owned pharmacies in more than a dozen counties this year, including Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence and Westmoreland. She plans to continue visiting pharmacies in the coming months.