FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wed., May 3, 2023
CONTACT: Aly Coleman Raschid, aly@on3pr.com, 850.449.8862
STATEMENT: EMPOWER Patients Coalition on Prescription Drug Reform Act Signed by Governor DeSantis
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, is being made in response to Governor Ron DeSantis signing the “Prescription Drug Reform Act,” sponsored by State Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) and State Rep. Linda Chaney (R-St. Petersburg), today, Wed., May 3, in Jupiter, Florida.
“The Prescription Drug Reform Act is a history-making bill on several levels and perhaps the most comprehensive pharmacy benefit manager reform ever introduced in the nation. We are proud to see this pro-consumer and pro-small business bill become law under the governor’s signature.
“The road to establishing meaningful PBM reform has been long and often arduous, but Florida patients and independent and community pharmacists never gave up. These patients and pharmacists are on the front lines, dealing directly with these powerful and predatory middlemen every single day, and they understand the positive impact this comprehensive legislation will have on them and their neighbors, friends, and family.
“We thank SB 1550 and HB 1509 bill sponsors Sen. Jason Brodeur and Rep. Linda Chaney for their tenacity, along with Governor Ron DeSantis for his bold leadership on this issue.”
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, National Community Pharmacists Association, Pharmacy Provider Services Corporation, Walgreens, and hundreds of patients and independent and community pharmacists and pharmacies across Florida.
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