Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has sent the governor a bill that supporters say offers rural pharmacies financial relief by reigning in pharmacy benefit managers.
PBMs negotiate drug prices. The bill requires that small pharmacies be paid a dispensing fee and sets up restrictions on PBM strategies that steer patients to fill prescriptions at certain pharmacies. A group of pharmacists were in the House balcony, watching as the bill passed on a 75 to 15 vote. Michael Schweitzer, a pharmacist in Bedford, says the bill will be a lifeline for Bedford Drug, the business his dad launched 60 years ago.
As Schweitzer’s voice broke, other pharmacists standing nearby wiped away their own tears. During House debate, Republican Representative Brett Barker, a pharmacist from Nevada, said over 200 Iowa pharmacies have closed in the last decade.
Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, says pharmacies are access points for health care in Iowa.
Representative Helena Hayes, a Republican from New Sharon, says Iowans have waited too long for these reforms.
The bill prohibits PBMs from forcing patients to use mail-order pharmacies.
KIWA Staff Photo
