Sen @HawleyMO is right - PBMs profit off sick Americans. Under my watch, Arkansas was the first state in the country to ban PBMs from owning pharmacies. Now it’s time for the federal government to follow our lead!

Arkansas’ pharmacists know best: drug middle-men called PBMs inflate costs and reduce access. I’m proud that Arkansas is the first state in the nation to take action against those practices.

For far too long, big drug middlemen called PBMs have inflated drug prices. Not anymore. Thank you @brandon_achor for the shoutout and thank you for championing this issue for our state.

Today I led a coalition of 39 state and territory attorneys general in sending a letter to Congress asking them to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies. PBMs are third-party administrators of prescription drug programs for health plans, and as such they heavily influence drug prices for pharmacies. Over the past few decades, PBMs have increasingly moved into the space of pharmacy ownership and operation. This has allowed them to set certain drug prices for pharmacies they control while setting less competitive prices for independent pharmacies and others outside their scope of influence. While this practice hurts small businesses, it ultimately hurts consumers by driving down competition. The letter that I led alongside the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Missouri, and Vermont urges Congress to take action and protect consumers by enacting a law prohibiting PBMs or their parent companies from owning or operating pharmacies. We have stood by for too long and watched PBMs’ influence encroach on consumers and small businesses. It is far past time that we act to restore the balance of competition and ensure that PBMs only play the role they were always meant to play. tinyurl.com/mtp3fuu6 #arnews @MassAGO @AGAndrewBailey @VTAttorneyGen @AKAG_TregTaylor @AZAGMayes @AGRobBonta @DE_DOJ @DCAttorneyGen @AtghIgov @ILAttyGeneral @kyoag @AGLizMurrill @OAGMaryland @MIAttyGen @AGEllison @LynnFitchAG @NevadaAG @NH_DOJ @NewJerseyOAG @NewMexicoDOJ @NewYorkStateAG @NCAGO @OhioAG @ORDOJ @PAAttorneyGen @AGNeronha @SDAttorneyGen @AGTennessee @UtahAG @JasonMiyaresVA @AGOWA @WestVirginiaAG @WisDOJ