NCPA presented at a health seminar on “Prescription Drug Access and Costs,” hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures in Chicago and attended by state legislators with health care and insurance committee responsibilities. (NCSL maintains a database of prescription drug state bills that you might be interested to browse.) NCPA’s presentation focused on PBM vertical integration and the need for state anti-patient steering legislation. Patient steering limits patient choices, drives up costs, and puts small pharmacies at a competitive disadvantage. By steering patients to national chains like CVS, or mail-order pharmacies, PBMs drive independent pharmacies out of business. By punishing patients with higher costs who actively choose their local independent pharmacists, PBMs take money out of the pockets of patients, too. Stay tuned to qAM for more on the outcomes of this and other seminars attended by NCPA.
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