MONTGOMERY — New legislation regulating pharmacy benefit managers in Alabama was introduced by State Sen. Billy Beasley (D-Clayton) on Tuesday.
PBMs are intermediaries between pharmacies and health insurance companies. Supporters of the entities say they help keep costs down for consumers. Pharmacists blame PBMs for putting independent pharmacies out of business.
The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Bobby Giles, government affairs director for the Alabama Pharmacy Association, told 1819 News the bill "has potential to allow community pharmacies to continue to provide access to their patients."
"This is a unified effort, bipartisan with the potential to keep pharmacy doors open. Overall, you've got reimbursement at the Medicaid rate but it will be for community pharmacies only. At this point, it will not include chains, big box, or grocers. You've got your enforcement. You've got your truth in transparency. You've still got your prohibition on fees by PBMs. It does contain the rebate pass through to employers from the PBMs," Giles said.
Giles continued, "It just makes sure that the average cost of the drug, no more no less, and the average cost of dispensing it, no more no less, is paid to the pharmacy."
"Anytime a PBM or an employer was overpaying on the drug cost, that goes away. If they were underpaying, that goes away. Same thing on the dispensing cost if they were overpaying (and) it was something that was being reimbursed off of the drug cost and a percentage or something like that because there was only one generic now those are going to come down to the average cost of dispensing so there's a way to save money there for plans," Giles said.
Giles said Alabama has lost 10 pharmacies so far in 2025.
"That's about three a month. We don't want to lose 20-25 more before the end of the year for sure," Giles said.
The bill is opposed by the Business Council of Alabama and the Alliance of Alabama Healthcare Consumers (AAHC). AAHC's members include Alabama Power, Regions, Alabama League of Municipalities, Association of County Commissions of Alabama, BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama, Business Council of Alabama, CVSHealth and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Robin Stone, AAHC executive director, called the bill the "Pharmacy Owner Relief Act."
"The cost of healthcare will go up for every Alabamian and their family if the Pharmacy Owner Relief Act is approved by the legislature. The fees on every prescription for Alabama employees and their families will push medicine costs even higher. The bill will add hundreds of millions in new, annual pharmacy costs with no guarantees of additional services, expansion of care into underserved areas or improvements in healthcare outcomes for patients," Stone told 1819 News.
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