@ISSUE • Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reforms

The independent pharmacists, I think, find themselves in a similar position to other businesses when you start to see market consolidation.

And it's tough.

I mean, they are up against a behemoth.

When you think about CVS and Walgreens and the proliferation of those stores across the country.

Kroger,

Walmart, and on and on again.

It's big.

And so and as we've kind of you heard Guy describe the evolution of pharmacy benefit administrators to managers.

I mean, they we've seen them go from simply handing the transactional parts of this process to now having ownership interest in the larger conglomerates.

Well, how do you think that's going to work out? I mean, it was helpful for me to hear him because what we heard there is just how the deck is stacked against these independent pharmacists.

So it's challenging and it's hard for me not to put myself in the shoes of legislators who are navigating this because I used to be one.

I'm going to guess, Wilson, that the largest lobbying interest in the state of Mississippi are on the side of Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, the big companies.

Because they can afford to hire them.

Because they can afford to hire the big guns.

And so I'm assuming that our friends at the legislature are hearing mostly from those voices who would like to see things continue the way they are.

The problem, as you heard Guy address at the end there— is the health care issue.

In some of these small towns, they are miles, in some case, many miles from hospital, from some of these larger providers.

And so this is kind of the oasis.

This is the island out in the health care desert where they can get their medicines.

The more inconvenient that becomes, people start to skip.

The more they skip, the more tragic health outcomes we see.

So I think the health care concern here is where the state has an interest.

So, yeah, if my friend were here, if Rebecca were here, I know that we would probably talk a little bit about free markets.

And I know that for conservatives, having a free market environment is something that they have valued and found desirable in these discussions.

You see here kind of where that goes.