Are Pharmacy Benefit Managers Destroying Your Local Drugstore?

Imagine your favorite local, independent pharmacy—the one where the pharmacist knows your name, helps you understand your medicine, and ensures you’re taken care of. Now, imagine walking up to that pharmacy to find the doors locked for good.

Why? Because of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)—big, powerful companies that control which medicines are covered by insurance, how much you pay, and how much pharmacies get paid. They are only interested in their profits, not your well-being.

Key Takeaways:

• PBMs have little transparency and prioritize profits over customers
• PBMs make it difficult for smaller, local pharmacies to stay afloat
• Attorneys want to hold PBMs accountable and protect independent pharmacies

How PBMs Are Rigging the System
PBMs were supposed to help make medicine cheaper for everyone. Instead, they found ways to squeeze money out of pharmacies while keeping drug prices high.

• They decide which drugs are covered by insurance—sometimes forcing patients to buy expensive meds when cheaper ones are available.
• They control how much pharmacies get paid—often paying them so little that small and rural pharmacies can’t survive.

• They charge hidden fees that drain money from local pharmacies and push them out of business.
• They make billions while your drug prices stay high—ripping off both pharmacies AND customers.

When local pharmacies shut down, it’s not just a loss of a store—it’s a loss for the entire community.

• People lose access to life-saving medicine, especially in small towns.
• Big chain pharmacies (who play by the PBMs’ rules) take over, and prices don’t go down.
• You wait longer for prescriptions and lose the personal care of a local pharmacist.
• More jobs disappear, and small businesses die.

Some states and lawmakers are trying to stop PBMs from destroying local pharmacies. But PBMs have money, power, and lobbyists who fight to keep their grip on the system.

As a law firm that fights for people, we stand with independent pharmacies, families, and communities against corporations that aren’t taking responsibility for their actions.

If you or someone you love has been affected by unfair PBM practices, you’re not alone—we’re here to help. Contact us today : 1-800-459-2222