Pharmacies across Alabama to participate in walkout for PBM reform

MONTGOMERY — In what they are calling a “necessary” move, pharmacists around the state are staging a walkout Tuesday in support of pharmacy benefit manager reform.

According to the Alabama Pharmacy Association, dozens of pharmacists will take part in the demonstration Tuesday at 1 p.m. They will also hold an afternoon of advocacy in Montgomery in support of Senate Bill 93 – The Patient Access Bill, sponsored by State Sen. Andrew Jones (R-Centre).

Patients are being notified that their pharmacy will be closed that afternoon.

“We have over 100 pharmacies in all areas of Alabama that are participating in some way,” said APA CEO Louise Jones. “Pharmacists are naturally servant-hearted people, so closing goes against the grain of their personalities, but this is a necessary and very visible way to advocate for patient access and pharmacy survival with SB93 at the Statehouse.” 

Because many pharmacists want to remain accessible to their patients, there will be a variety of ways pharmacies will  participate in the walkout.

• Those who can will close for the afternoon
• Some will close for one or two hours that afternoon
• A few are turning their lights down so that entering patients ask questions
• Some are closing their front door, but the drive-through window will remain open.

It is all about starting a conversation with their patients to address desperately needed Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform.

Many will gather at the Statehouse in Montgomery that day to advocate for Senate Bill 93 – the Patient Access Bill, which addresses PBM reform and fair reimbursement, and then will walk over and attend APA’s Legislative Reception to continue the advocacy efforts. 

PBMs are middlemen who determine what medications patients can receive, how much patients pay out of pocket for their prescriptions, and how pharmacies are reimbursed for dispensing medications.

Pharmacies are struggling to keep their doors open as they are often reimbursed for medication at a price lower than their cost of dispensing the medication to the patient. We continue to lose pharmacies across Alabama every month.

Originally designed to help reduce the price of prescription drugs, research shows that PBM practices have contributed significantly to the steep increases in prescription costs.  

The nonprofit APA was established in 1881 and is the oldest professional organization for pharmacy in the state; it has more than 3,000 members statewide.