FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Mon., March 27, 2023
CONTACT: Aly Coleman Raschid, aly@on3pr.com, 850.449.8862
STATEMENT: EMPOWER Patients Coalition on Prescription Drug Reform Act Passing with Unanimous, Bipartisan Vote in First Committee Stop
Tallahassee, Fla. –The statement below, to be attributed to EMPOWER Patients coalition member and Executive Vice President and CEO of the Florida Pharmacy Association Helen Sairany, pertains to the “Prescription Drug Reform Act” (SB 1550 /HB 1509).
This statement is being made in response to State Sen. Jason Brodeur’s (R-Lake Mary) SB 1550 passing in the Senate Health Policy Committee with a unanimous, bipartisan vote earlier today, Mon., March 27, and prior to State Rep. Linda Chaney’s (R-St. Petersburg) HB 1509 being heard in the House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee tomorrow, Tues., March 28, at 2 p.m.
“EMPOWER Patients is comprised of hundreds of Florida patients and independent and community pharmacists across the state, and they are all too familiar with the abuses of multi-billion-dollar pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs.
“Opportunistic PBMs manipulate innocent patients – everyday men and women who rely on prescription drugs to relieve their pain or cure their illnesses – through egregious practices and pressure tactics, like steering, which often makes accessing medication more inconvenient, time consuming, and expensive. These middlemen don’t provide a single health care service, and yet they’re calling the shots, compromising patient care so they can continue increasing their already exorbitant bottom line.
“Fortunately, thee Prescription Drug Reform Act would establish various patient protections, including prohibiting steering, while also leveling the playing field for independent and community pharmacists, which would ultimately help reduce patient costs.
“We’re sincerely grateful to Governor DeSantis, Sen. Brodeur, and Rep. Chaney for the work they’ve done to hold PBMs accountable and the critical, long-overdue change they will help establish on behalf of patients in the coming months. Thank you, leaders, for taking on these corporate giants and standing up for the little guys.”
For more information about EMPOWER Patients, please click here.
About EMPOWER Patients
The EMPOWER Patients coalition formed in 2020 to support policies that empower patients to take back control of their health care, increase access to affordable medication, restore the patient/pharmacist relationship, and drastically scale back the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the prescription drug supply chain. EMPOWER Patients is comprised of the American Pharmacy Cooperative, Inc., Aspire Health Pharmacy Services, Florida Independent Pharmacy Network, Florida Pharmacy Association, Pharmacy Provider Services Corporation, Walgreens, and hundreds of patients and independent and community pharmacists and pharmacies across Florida.
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