Sen. Bergstrom and Rep. Cornwell meet with pharmacists who want a level playing field

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, and Rep. Rusty Cornwell, R-Vinita, met recently with pharmacists in their districts to discuss challenges patients face in choosing how they want to access essential medications.

A packet of information was provided to the two legislators, which included information on how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are potentially steering patients towards their own pharmacy networks in an attempt to boost profits.

"A major problem your neighborhood pharmacist faces is the way PBMs often reimburse local pharmacies, it’s often less than the cost of dispensing a prescription. Yet the exact same drug may be reimbursed with a huge profit to pharmacies owned by the corporation that also controls the PBM. And it's all done in secrecy," Bergstrom said. "However, the evidence of this is coming to light and we must act to stop the PBMs from destroying our neighborhood pharmacies.”

The PBMs often appear to be saving patients money with the lower cost of drugs from pharmacies within their own network as opposed to local pharmacies, however, this can actually drive the price of medicine up while hurting local businesses.

“We felt like some big chain stores were creating an unfair playing field, and now we have some data to prove it,” Cornwall said. 

For more information, contact Sen. Micheal Bergstrom at 405-521-5561 or email Micheal.Bergstrom@oksenate.gov.

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CUTLINE: Sen. Michael Bergstrom and Rep. Rusty Cornwell had dinner at Clanton’s Cafe in Vinita recently and heard from local pharmacists about challenges facing neighborhood pharmacies. Pictured L-R: Michael Frye, James Neal, Julia Brown, Rep. Cornwell, Bill Osborn, Sen. Bergstrom, Joe Forcum, Teresa Butler, Lisa Barlow, Randy Quattlebaum, and OPhA President Chris Schiller.