Senate passed bill to create pharmacy benefit manager guidelines
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The Alabama State Senate recently passed SB252, which creates guidelines and restrictions to limit the scope of Pharmacy Benefit Managers, or PBMs.
Trent Mclemore with the Alabama Independent Pharmacy Alliance said PBMs serve as intermediaries between insurance companies and pharmacies, often not paying pharmacies the full cost to fill prescriptions.
“This is a problem,” he said. “They are still hurting pharmacies. We are subsidizing insurance plans by filling these prescriptions underwater so they don’t have to pay for it.”
In 2025, pharmacists said over ten independent pharmacies across the state had had to close.
Other states, including Tennessee, have passed measures that limit PBMs, something Mclemore says Star Market had to take advantage of to stay afloat.
“They prevented insurance companies from underpaying the pharmacies,” he said. “The insurance company has to pay the pharmacy what the cost is. Then, the pharmacy can just worry about the patient. They don’t have to worry about losing money or turning somebody away.”
The bill has similar support from Bobby Giles from the Alabama Pharmacy Association.
He said this will keep more pharmacies open.
“When you are not paid your cost of dispensing, you either don’t stock the medication, you don’t take the insurance, or if you continue, you might go out of business,” Giles said. “It’s obvious that providers are not being paid, employers are probably paying too much, and we need to know where all the money is actually going.”
Leaders stressed that the bill does not increase costs for copays or prescriptions, and it only affects commercial insurance for independent, local pharmacies.
SB252 was passed in the Alabama Senate and moved to the Alabama House of Representatives.
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