Kansas Pharmacies Gathered at State Capital to Push for PBM Reform

By: Ryan Duey

On Wednesday, February 5th, more than 100 pharmacies closed for the day to meet with legislators at the State Capital in Topeka to advocate for reform on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Hundreds of pharmacists and pharmacy employees united to show the lawmakers what Kansas would look like if local pharmacies shut down.

Kayla Hood, Pharmacist at Auburn Pharmacy in Concordia, said 450 plus pharmacy workers were at the Capital. She spoke about PBMs and why they were advocating for reform.

“We were advocating for what’s called PBM reform, and they’re essentially the middlemen in pharmacy that are dictating the cost that pharmacies get paid and the cost that patients are paying. Also, they are dictating where patients can get their medications filled.”

“A lot of small town pharmacies are closing. Across the U.S. one pharmacy a day closes on average. So, we’re trying to fix that since a lot of rural communities only have a locally independent pharmacy.”

Hood said while this isn’t as much of an issue in cities, for rural citizens the local pharmacies are their only access to medication. With the fear of closures, some patients would have to drive over an hour to access their medication, which is impossible for some.

Hood believes this day made a difference, the sheer number of pharmacy workers in the Capital helped open some eyes on the issue. 

“A lot of people didn’t know that this was going on or to the magnitude that it was. I also think it was a big eye-opener for patients. All of the community pharmacies throughout the state of Kansas closed for this event, and it showed them what it’s like for the town to not have a pharmacy open that day.”

“I don’t know what’s going to come of it. I guess we’ll see in the coming months, but I think it was a positive.”

Hood said anyone who thinks they would be affected by losing their local pharmacy should reach out to their local legislators. She said the more people that reach out on this issue would be really beneficial to the cause.  

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