Legislature must protect pharmacy benefits

Prescription drugs are again a priority in Tallahassee this year, and the Legislature has already held two informational hearings to discuss ways to relieve costs for Florida families. Prescription drug prices are too high, and the answer requires that lawmakers continue supporting free-market solutions and reject big government mandates.

I’ve been an employer in Central Florida for over 23 years and I know firsthand that the government telling businesses what kind of pharmacy benefits they can or can’t provide to their employees is only going to drive up costs even further.

Small businesses like mine provide our employees and their families with affordable, accessible health care coverage, which includes pharmacy benefits. My employees rely on these benefits — like picking up prescriptions from lower-cost pharmacies covered by their plan, convenient home delivery of medications, and ensuring complex or rare medications are handled and dispensed safely — to keep costs down and ensure access to the medications they need.

The No. 1 issue for me and my employees when it comes to prescription drugs is keeping costs as low as possible. I would rather buy my lower-cost prescriptions from designated affordable pharmacies than pay more to buy them anywhere, and I think a lot of others agree.

As the state Legislature works to bring down prescription drug costs, I hope they recognize pharmacy benefits must be protected.

Rob Kershner Orlando

Rob Kershner runs Southern Safety and Supply in Orlando.