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An Editorial Opinion of The Demopolis Times

It seems like there is a battle brewing in the state legislature about whether to pass a bill that could help our local pharmacies be more competitive with national pharmacies.

Both SB93 and SB99 – two nearly identical bills introduced by different groups of senators – appear to be supporting local pharmacies, preventing them from being subject to unfair practices of some Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBM). PBMs are “the intermediary between health insurance plans and their network pharmacies which process claims and determine the amount pharmacies are reimbursed for dispensing covered prescriptions,” as stated in the SB99 summary. 

These bills would seek to give patients more freedom of choice in selecting pharmacies, and opting for lower-cost generics without having named brands forced on them by the PBM, which often have agreements with drug manufacturers. Further, the bills would allow more regulation of PBMs, making them more accountable while restricting retaliatory actions. In short, SB93 and the more in-depth SB99 help to prop up and defend both patients and pharmacies from unfair practices. 

There are over 700 independently owned pharmacies in Alabama, and a total of almost 1,300.  However, there were more. As aggressive cost cutting by PBMs – often paying pharmacies less than Medicaid – combined with increasing costs of doing business such as rent and utilities increases, 252 independent pharmacies have closed down since 2019. Affixing this per-prescription fee to all PBM throughput is intended to combat what is seen by many as unfair or insufficient compensation.

“Everything is costing us,” said Raymond Boone, second generation owner and pharmacist of Boone’s Pharmacy in Demopolis. “We’re just trying to protect Alabama healthcare,” Boone said of SB99. According to Boone, everything in the bill is “100% for the patient and the pharmacies.”

Our local pharmacies need help. They provide our local residents with great customer service, as they can help better educate them about the medicines they need or consider what a person’s options are. If we lose these pharmacies, the big box drugstores may decide they want to close their brick and mortar stores to save money and ship it to your home. While that may seem more convenient, it is better to have a pharmacist you can call on especially if something goes wrong.