Political Quotes

“I have come to discuss with my colleagues the plight of our local pharmacists, which is always difficult, particularly in small towns; but it is going to be particularly difficult come January 1 and through next year. I have heard firsthand from rural pharmacists about the looming cashflow challenges that they face next year. These challenges are a direct result of the powerful pharmacy benefit managers and the managers' behavior in response to Federal regulations. This is the situation. You see, pharmacies are going to face direct and indirect remuneration clawback fees, or what we call DIRs, from the PBMs for calendar year 2023, just after January 1, 2024. At the same time, pharmacies will also be facing lower post point of sale reimbursement from PBMs beginning that same date of January 1 of next year. So it is a double whammy against cashflow problems of small rural pharmacies. For over a decade, these powerful PBMs have gouged rural pharmacies by clawing back part of the reimbursements many months after the sale. It is almost like you sign a contract the first of the year that you are doing business with the PBMs. Then, at the end of the year, you get a dun to pay back sometimes thousands of dollars, and I have even heard examples of tens of thousands of dollars. You see, this situation comes because three very large PBMs control nearly 80 percent of the prescription drug market.…”