More than half of the country’s state attorneys general joined together last week to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case against PBMs and decide in favor of Oklahoma’s (read: states’) rights to regulate them – and, as was the case in Rutledge v. PCMA, NCPA is proud to join this fight. Along with the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association, American Pharmacies, Inc., the American Pharmacists Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, we filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
Essentially, we’re arguing that PBMs are administrators that have grown vastly larger and more powerful than anyone anticipated 40 years ago, mainly because of their unchecked monopolistic practices. What were once relatively small players in the market were “replaced by market behemoths,” we said. “States cannot effectively regulate PBMs or decide to invest significant resources in enforcing new PBM-related schemes, without real confidence that their reforms will survive,” said our group. Check out our joint filing here. Rest assured we’ll keep you posted on this matter as it proceeds.
