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FRANKFORT, KY– The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is applauding the Kentucky government for standing up for Kentuckians in the face of “pharmaceutical benefit manipulation” and for enacting meaningful pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform in the state.
The newly enacted measure is a combination of two recently passed legislative vehicles that will help protect patients’ access to pharmacies by preventing retroactive pharmacy clawback fees; establishing a pathway to provide a reimbursement rate floor in the commercial market by 2027; and ensuring pharmacy choice.
NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson said: “NACDS sincerely thanks Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D), the Kentucky Retail Federation, Kentucky State Representative Danny Bentley (R), and Kentucky State Senator Max Wise (R) for their leadership and for prioritizing patients over PBM profits. This PBM reform legislation is crucial for Kentuckians’ access to care and to the medications right for them, and for the viability of pharmacies of all sizes on which they rely.
“NACDS’ work in an array of states has shown that PBM reform is far from done when a law is enacted. We are here to stand up for the leaders who stand up for patients, pharmacies, employers, taxpayers, communities, and the entire state by enacting, implementing, enforcing, and defending PBM reform laws.”
Pharmacies remain critical access points to needed care — existing within five miles of 90 percent of Americans. A recent poll commissioned by NACDS and conducted by Morning Consult found that 85% of adults in Kentucky say it is very or somewhat easy to access pharmacies, ranking their accessibility the highest among healthcare destinations tested.
NACDS continues to work at the federal and state levels to confront PBM practices that force patients and others to pay more for their medicines, that limit patients’ access to their pharmacist, that restrict patients’ access to the medicines right for them, and that jeopardize the pharmacies on which patients rely. Read more …
