In the United States, there’s a growing, and very serious, problem of “pharmacy deserts”—particularly in underserved communities. And it’s pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, that are slowly putting independent pharmacies out of business and further fueling pharmacy deserts that impact patients. It’s a situation that desperately needs intervention.
PBMs, a third-party company that acts as a middleman between drug manufacturers, health insurance companies, and pharmacies, limit independent pharmacies’ access to lifesaving medications and create deadly situations where patients with life-threatening illnesses can’t get access to the medications that keep them alive.
The three largest PBMs that control 80 percent of the U.S. prescription market are Express Scripts, a subsidiary of insurance giant Cigna; OptumRx, owned by insurance behemoth United Healthcare; and CVS, which owns health insurance company Aetna.
This situation has only been made worse because corporate chains have closed locations in communities that had limited pharmacy access, and independent pharmacies would fill the gaps of service to the public. Independents have said for years that pharmacy access problems affect their patients and communities, and with PBMs putting independents out of business, there’s been a growth of pharmacy deserts in the U.S.
The University of Southern California and the National Community Pharmacists Association created a new Pharmacy Access Initiative, which conducts research and provides resources, including an interactive map of pharmacy deserts, intended to help policymakers and others understand and address pharmacy-access gaps.
Pharmacy closures and resulting pharmacy deserts are an access-to-care issue. The USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access initiative highlights how independent pharmacies are important providers in underserved communities, and why they need to stay in business.
Watch the important video on pharmacy deserts: “Independent Pharmacies: Filling Access Gaps in Underserved Areas.”
John Hassell is the National Director of Advocacy for AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
