In a recent letter to state attorneys general, NCPA warned that a partnership between two massive pharmacy benefit managers will squash local pharmacies and ultimately limit consumer choices. “These two companies operating separately already exert tremendous downward pressure on independent pharmacies. By joining forces, they can put many out of business and steer their patients to larger competitors,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “There’s nothing competitive or fair about that, and in the end, patients will lose access to their preferred local health care providers.”
NCPA urged the National Association of Attorneys General to scrutinize a partnership between Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics, two of the biggest PBMs in the country. Express Scripts, which is owned by Cigna, controls prescriptions for 75 million patients across the country. Prime Therapeutics is owned by a consortium of Blue Cross Blue Shield companies that cover 30 million patients in 18 states. In April of this year they formed a partnership to combine their negotiating leverage. According to NCPA, it has already triggered sharp cuts in reimbursements to pharmacies.
