ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Dec. 19, 2023) – The National Community Pharmacists Association today cheered another class action lawsuit filed against an insurance behemoth and its pharmacy benefit manager that aims to recoup millions of dollars in backdoor fees on small independent pharmacies. “After years of abuse at the hands of big insurance plans and their PBMs, independent pharmacies are fighting back,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA.
Connecticut pharmacist Greg McKenna was featured this week in a Connecticut Examiner story about the DIR fees that have gone up by more than 107,400 percent, devastating independent community pharmacies who pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in back-end penalties. “It’s an outrageous amount of money, just outrageous, and it’s totally wrong,” McKenna, owner of Nutmeg pharmacy, told health and education reporter Emilia Otte.
Dear Colleague, This has been a big month for independent pharmacy in the fight against PBMs. We have the strategy. We have ammunition. Now all we need is you. Let me catch you up, first.
Dear Colleague, I'm back in Florida this time in Orlando for the NCPA Annual Meeting. Some readers may remember the 400-mile, six pharmacy visits in 24 hours I did with NCPA President Hugh Chancy and NCPA staffer Tyler Poirier in early July. A lot has happened since then which is why I think this year's NCPA Annual Convention is happening at the perfect time.