FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2025
Media contact: media@aiparx.org
Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance (AIPA) appreciates the attention that the Alabama press has given to the urgent issue of pharmacy benefit managers’ (PBMs) anticompetitive practices and the threat they present to local pharmacies and Alabama healthcare generally. There has been some recent debate as to the number of pharmacies that have been eliminated by PBMs’ methods in the last five to six years.
Per data from a public records request to Alabama Board of Pharmacy (ALBOP), 361 chain and community pharmacies closed in Alabama from January 1, 2018 to December 24, 2024. Over the same period, 159 chain and community pharmacies opened, leaving a net loss of 202 pharmacies. Given that 1,299 chain and community pharmacies are active at present, this implies a loss of roughly 13% of Alabama’s chain and community pharmacies in six years.
The problem has worsened in the last fifteen months. From October 1, 2023 to December 24, 2024, Alabama had a net loss of 56 community and chain pharmacies, roughly 4.1% of the total, at an average rate of 3.7 net monthly closures. Pharmacies that are unaffiliated with PBMs (independent, locally-owned chain, and grocery store pharmacies) are hardest hit, accounting for two-thirds of the net losses. These pharmacies are forced to close because they are paid below dispensing costs on the majority of insurance claims, while giant corporate chain and PBM-affiliated pharmacies are paid preferential rates. Publicly available evidence suggests that pay rate differences of ninety percent to several thousand percent are commonplace.*
This is a nationwide issue that has been acknowledged by the FTC, numerous members of the United States Senate and House, and by President Donald Trump.
AIPA President Craig Moore stated, “PBM companies directly compete with the Alabama pharmacies whose pricing they also control. AIPA is committed to protecting Alabama citizens’ access to the personalized care provided by locally-owned independent pharmacies. We urge Alabama’s legislators to follow the lead of other states like Tennessee and take immediate action to curb the unethical practices of PBMs that are closing local businesses, removing Alabamians’ access to care, and siphoning funds out of our state.”