CVS says they will close all Tennessee stores if anti-Pharmacy Benefits Manager bill passes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF)- A Tennessee bill restricting how pharmacies are structured is facing opposition from one major company.
CVS says that if Tennessee Senate Bill 20-40 passes, they would be forced to close every single CVS store in the state.
This is because the bill would require any company that owns an insurance company, the store, and the pharmacy benefits manager, which is the middle man negotiating prices between insurance and pharmacies, to divest from any part of that chain.
Otherwise, they would be banned from owning a pharmacy.
CVS owns Aetna as an insurance company, CVS Caremark as the pharmacy benefits manager, and their CVS Pharmacy stores.
CVS says this bill would remove pharmacy and MinuteClinic access for many Tennesseans.
CVS pharmacist Adam Rogers said, “If this bill passes myself and a lot of my colleagues here will lose our jobs, but we are far more concerned on the impact on the citizens of the state of Tennessee and the care that they get from our locations.”
However, proponents of the bill say that allowing companies like CVS to own all parts of this process gives them an unfair advantage and leads to higher drug prices.
Independent pharmacist Joanna Clark said, “The current pharmacy, benefit, manager or PBM system is broken. It is harming Tennessee patients, employers, and our rural healthcare infrastructure.”
The Tennessee Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to advance the bill to its next step.
