Local pharmacies asking state for help
A bill in the Georgia House of Representatives aims to level the financial playing field between independent pharmacies and larger, affiliated pharmacies.
House Bill 810 was the topic of discussion last week when Suzanne Davenport, who owns Southern Drug Company with her husband, John, met with State Representative Johnny Chastain.
Davenport presented Chastain insurance reimbursement problems faced by her pharmacy that are common among independent pharmacies.
Davenport said her average cost just to dispense a drug, not including the cost of the drug, is about $12 a prescription. She provided statements showing where the pharmacy was reimbursed 50 cents on one prescription and $4.14 on another. In
another example, the pharmacy was reimbursed $6.65 for a prescription in August and 65 cents for the exact same prescription for the same customer in September.
“This is why we’re fighting daily to keep our doors open,” Davenport said.
At the same time, larger, affiliated pharmacies negotiate better contracts with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), because of their larger buying power. It is the PBMs who are responsible for establishing re-imbursements.
This enables the larger affiliates to charge less for medications than amounts charged by smaller independents, a system that has forced many independent pharmacies in Georgia to close.
“We’re not going to let that happen here,” Davenport assured Chastain.
The state representative agreed with Davenport’s concerns and the seriousness of the situation for all local pharmacies.
“We can’t give these independents less than the bigger ones,” Chastain said.
He said later he will work hard for the passage of HB 810, whose lead sponsor is Representative Rick Jasperse.
The bill requires all pharmacies to be reimbursed no less than the national average drug acquisition cost for the prescription plus a dispensing fee of $10.64. And that fee is to be adjusted every 12 months in an amount equal to the change in the Consumer Price Index for medical care.
Perhaps just as importantly, it requires a PBM shall not offer reimbursement or incentives to a nonaffiliated (independent) pharmacy in an amount less than offered to an affiliated pharmacy.
Chastain said a similar bill was passed a couple of years ago, only to be vetoed by the governor.
He expects action to begin quickly on HB 810. It went through both the first and second reading in the last session of the General Assembly, but was not dropped into the hopper until after Crossover Day. When the legislature convenes in January 2026, it is ready for a third reading, immediate debate and a vote.
Keeping the doors of local, independent pharmacies open means more than just dispensing medications, Davenport said.
Local pharmacies, such as Southern Drug, are “where we try to take better care of our customers. My mission is to make sure we have good health care,” Davenport said.
“We care about the well being of our patients,” Davenport said.