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The coronavirus on Smart Talk Wednesday: Independent pharmacies call for action against price gouging and Report for America reporters hit the ground running

 Bloomberg via Getty Images

Pennsylvania’s independent pharmacies say that while they are working hard to offer service during the pandemic, pharmacy benefit managers are making their jobs nearly impossible.

Once the pandemic crisis hit, PBM’s responded by cutting reimbursement rates for many unrelated drugs. Independent pharmacies bear the brunt of these cuts because they must cover the difference if the reimbursement rate does not cover the cost.

PBM’s were established in the 1960’s to reduce health-care costs by basically performing the function of a drug demand aggregator, or buyer. What started as a model to help lower health care costs, PBM’s are now being scrutinized as part of the problem in price transparency.

Patricia Epple, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, along with Chuck Kray, a pharmacist with Hershey Pharmacy, appear on Smart Talk to discuss the threat to Pennsylvania’s independent pharmacies by what they call “price gouging.”

Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. WITF and PA Post are two of the more than 160 other news organizations across the country selected for the program.

Appearing on Smart Talk Wednesday is Report for America co-founder Charlie Sennott, along with reporters Alanna Elder and Anthony Orozco, who are covering central Pennsylvania’s growing Latino communities for WITF and PA Post.

 

 

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