Pharmacy reform bill deserves Cuomo’s signature

As the manager of Lincoln Pharmacy, a business that’s been in Albany since 1935, I am extremely concerned that our future is in jeopardy. The odds are stacked against us and we don’t know how we’re going to stay open to serve our patients.

Since the start of the COVID -19 pandemic, our pharmacy has been on the front lines of health care in our community. We have implemented costly but essential safety measures and curbside pickup and increased our free home-delivery service. But COVID -19 was just the tip of the iceberg. As my staff and I navigated the new normal that the pandemic had thrust us into, we were also forced to deal with the uptick of violent crime in the city.

At the beginning of June, we had to close early for nearly a week as businesses across the city fell victim to looting during riots. Despite the challenges we faced, we continued to provide accessible pharmacy services to our community. All the while, our business is on the verge of collapse.

Earlier this year, Sen. Neil Breslin, D -Delmar, introduced a bill (S7828/A9902) to keep rising prescription drug prices in check, protect doctors’ freedom to prescribe medications that

are best for their patients, and ensure New Yorkers remain free to visit pharmacies of their choice. The bill would also regulate pharmacy benefit managers. Hired by insurance companies, PBMS determine the reimbursements that pharmacies are paid for dispensing prescription drugs (which, a majority of the time, is less than cost), as well as what drugs insurers will cover, and the astronomical out-of-pocket costs our patients are forced to cover for their medications.

Eighteen months ago, I sat in Breslin’s office and explained how the practices of PBMS affected my pharmacy. I know that meeting made an impact on him. He introduced a bill very similar to S7828 in 2019 that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate and Assembly. The 2019 bill was supported by doctors, patient advocates and pharmacists across the state. At the last minute, the bill was vetoed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

I applaud and appreciate the efforts of elected officials working to improve our health care and drug distribution system and urge them to pass S7828/A9902. PBMS are the only link in the chain that provides no actual health care services, and once the Legislature passes this much-needed reform, it urgently needs to be signed into law by Cuomo.

Like Cuomo, I have followed in my father’s footsteps to a profession where I proudly serve my community. I also grew up in my father’s shadow, and take great pride in upholding my father’s legacy. I want the same for my children. I want them to have the option of upholding the legacy of Lincoln Pharmacy and serving the community that has supported us for so many years.

Last winter, I called the governor’s office several times to voice support for the bill he eventually vetoed. My pharmacy is in the governor’s back yard, so it was no surprise to me that the staffers I spoke to knew of Lincoln Pharmacy, and their family members rely on our services. The governor need not look any further than his own staff to understand the importance of this bill. If this PBM bill is not signed into law, my children will never have my opportunity and Albany will lose its oldest independent pharmacy.