thesterlguy
@sterlingkoonce
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Pharmacist/Owner/Rural Healthcare Provider/Father/Christian
Tabor City, NC
Joined December 2010
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@CurtisHouck
@PeterAlexander
It’s obviously unfair to the vast majority of taxpayers. It’s equally obvious that there is no way she can defend it - just various attempts to deflect. Great job
@PeterAlexander
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From a fellow independent pharmacy:
We lost $38 on Ozempic recently.
Patient actually showed me his EOB from his Medicare Part-D plan.
Plan paid over $1,200
PBM paid our pharmacy $876 and pocketed the spread, which was well over $300 for one drug.
If you aren’t enraged by
We lost $38 on Ozempic recently.
Patient actually showed me his EOB from his Medicare Part-D plan.
Plan paid over $1,200
PBM paid our pharmacy $876 and pocketed the spread, which was well over $300 for one drug.
If you aren’t enraged by this: unfollow me right now.
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@HazelAppleyard_
Disgusting. Yet sickeningly eye opening. Perverts get too much publicity and empowerment.
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@PaigeSpiranac
I totally get that. The better I got the less I enjoyed it. It seems crazy now.
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@HazelAppleyard_
Why are feminists not united and up in arms about men competing in women’s sports? I just don’t get it. First they burned their bras and now they applaud men that wear them?? Crazy times.
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@ACLUTx
You are just totally dead wrong. If a Ferrari identifies as a horse and competes against horses, is that fair to the horses?
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Please tell me how to adjust any business model where the business is paid less than cost on their products they provide? Certainly nobody believes their propaganda. They are getting desperate and ridiculous. Who did they pay for this “op-ed”?
New op-ed in RealClearMarkets. "The real challenge facing independent pharmacies."
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This should not be happening. But it is happening every day nation wide.
'It's a sad thing': New Richmond's only pharmacy fills final prescription, closes doors after nearly 75 years
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Pharmacy Deserts are coming to where YOU LIVE - then it will be too late to fix it. PBM reform now.
“We aren’t able to pay our bills down there and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better in the future so we’re closing up shop and leaving town.”
@SenateGOP
@SenateDems
@RepAuchincloss
@SenatorTester
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This is the endgame that PBMs are playing now. We need help!
@FTC
@RepBuddyCarter
Hey let’s pay pharmacies 100+ below their cost on these meds. They’ll either go out of business or not fill them. Then we’ll start our own fulfillment because we pay ourselves more $ and profit.
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Showing my ass for World Donkey Day. I love my little Babe.
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This is disgusting. And it is hurting every single clinic in America. And the billionaire company does not give a 💩. The system is corrupt.
Everyone needs to see how absolutely horrible this situation is. $UNH I doubt anyone (doctors, pharmacists or nurses) will receive the largess that
@UHC
plan on paying out in dividends. AW would never cut dividends to support the
#healthcareheroes
who make healthcare work.
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Compare the reality from a pharmacy and a patient to what PCMA claims when they lobby. Disgusting.
We lost $38 on Ozempic recently.
Patient actually showed me his EOB from his Medicare Part-D plan.
Plan paid over $1,200
PBM paid our pharmacy $876 and pocketed the spread,
ICYMI: “Discounts obtained by
#PBMs
are vital. Diminishing their negotiation power would empower
#BigPharma
, who already wield substantial market power due to
#patent
protections, to set even higher prices.” More from
@EconTony
via
@rc_markets
:
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Even Fortune gets it. Save pharmacy. Stop PBM abuses.
“If even big chains cannot survive … what do you expect for the small pharmacies?”
A crisis is hitting your local drugstore. Why the slow demise of a 130-year-old family-owned pharmacy chain spells disaster for consumers
@FTC
@POTUS
@RepJamesComer
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@GovKathyHochul
Serious question. Is it really down or is just reporting and strict policing down? Real question.
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So true that it hurts.
People who think that mass looting of drug stores is driving bankruptcies are right. It’s just that the people doing it wear suits and work at Optum, CVS, and Cigna.
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Another pharmacy closes thanks to PBMs paying under cost to fill.
We’ve been shouting from the rooftops that without serious
#PBMreform
2024 is will be disastrous for community pharmacies Another pharmacy lost in Georgia Now do you see?!?!
@FTC
@POTUS
@WhiteHouse
@SpeakerJohnson
@FLOTUS
@RepJamesComer
@RepBuddyCarter
@RepAuchincloss
@LeverNews
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@linakhanFTC
@FTC
Please do something quickly. Many of us in rural areas are hanging on by a thread. Thank you.
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@RepBuddyCarter
@WaysandMeansGOP
@HouseCommerce
Thank you!!!!! Please get this passed and save community pharmacy and patient access. Many of us will not make it to the end of the year without intervention.
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@monicasloves
@VP
You may want to get your news from additional sources before you make decisions. Lots of misinformation out there to smear the other side. This is the one bipartisan thing that is happening.
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If you own, work for, or use a community pharmacy, contact your legislator NOW while we still have a chance to get something done. Without the contacts, we have lost. Please do it.
Differences of opinion or paths of action no longer matter. When it comes to the battle for
#PBMreform
,
We Are Fighting For The Same Cause.
We Agree: Congress Can NOT Back Down!
It's Time to
#GetLoud
!
Contact Your Legislator NOW👇
@Commpharmacy
#TruthRx
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For rural or urban patients with no transportation, a few miles can be a desert. Politicians need to stop this disaster and use their common sense. This will be a healthcare disaster on a scale larger and more expensive than the Covid pandemic when patients lose access to care
#Pharmacy
deserts aren't just a rural issue. Urban communities are often left without healthcare access due to PBM abuses. This isn't due to "competiton" like PCMA claims, it is due to monopolistic behavior by vertically integrated PBMs.
@matthewstoller
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Please call your representatives to support these bills to protect your access to community pharmacies. This is NOT an overstatement. Many more pharmacies will close without legislative action and protection from PBM abuses. THANK YOU
@RepBuddyCarter
✅My Protecting Patients against
#PBM
Abuses Act has now passed UNANIMOUSLY out of both
@WaysandMeansGOP
&
@HouseCommerce
.
We must bring this bill to the floor and continue defending patients against the shady practices of PBMs. I'm going to bust this monopoly up.
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I love this model. Way more efficient and patient centric. Independent pharmacies and independent medical practices need to form a group together with no middle men to screw things up.
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It’s time to limit political contributions!!! It is fundamentally not fair to small businesses and normal people.
“PCMA, the trade group for PBMs, almost doubled its spending in that time period, from $8.7 million to $15.4 million.”
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Another independent pharmacy closes. So sad. And unnecessary if we were treated fairly. But legislators have failed to help us.
After nearly 75 years, New Richmond's only pharmacy fills final prescription
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@sarahpriestle
@SpectrumNews1OH
I too am a 3rd generation pharmacist, married to a pharmacist, and I have a PY3 daughter in pharmacy school. Our first store opened in 1907. I’m worried we won’t make it another year if dratic changes don’t happen soon. Keep up the good fight.
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@Michell33650674
Most republicans and independents believe the same thing. Don’t let the politicians divide us.
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How is this legal? Isn’t this the definition of a kickback or enticement? Pharmacies can’t even waive a copay.
Nice move by
@cvspharmacy
2 ‘help patients’ with the trauma of Non Medical Switch off
#Humira
2 CVS owned Hyrimoz CV$ will PAY patients $200. What? Use the $200 towards a coffin?
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These are the games the PBMs play - and it is greedy, disgusting, and most importantly, detrimental to our patients. This must be stopped.
How CVS Health is gaming PrEP medication claims and fueling the spread of HIV:
CVS Health is tricking pharmacies into not filling pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication for HIV prevention through drastic, deceptive up front underpayments.
Generic Truvada has an acquisition
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So sad and infuriating. They have all the money and spend it buying politicians. Then patients lose.
the pbms completely won in MS during this year's legislative session. not a single pbm-reforming, independent pharmacy protecting bill survived. in a rural state where small town pharmacies are an important part of many patients' lives, this will be devastating.
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Note the date on this post. Read the comments. Almost a year later and it has gotten significantly worse and NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. All talk. No action. Remember that when you see more current posts “supporting” our fight against the PBMs. Talk is nothing. Don’t believe it
I don't know why so-called “pharmacy benefit managers” even exist.
These corporate middlemen and their anti-competitive tactics are hurting rural communities by closing local pharmacies left and right.
We've got to take on PBMs and defend access to health care in rural America.
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@GOPoversight
@RepJamesComer
Please push to address community pharmacies being paid under cost. We do not have months to wait. Many of us just have weeks due to the inadequate reimbursement. Call some of your independent pharmacist friends. Ive been a pharmacist for 37 years in a pharmacy that has been
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The Prior Authorization process has gone off the rails!
Our nurse just filled out a prior authorization that had 61 questions & took 59 minutes to complete
For just one medication—and the patient is already on it & doing well
She could have cared for 4-5 patients/families during that time. This shouldn’t be legal
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@SteveLovesAmmo
That makes totally logical sense. Why are there so many out there that won’t even consider this?
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Accurate and funny. And accurate.
Our new
#FinishTheFight
campaign launching today is about getting
#PBMreform
passed ASAP. We're not just mobilizing patients across the country to get involved, we’re empowering them to join us. For tools you can use to spread the word in your area, visit .
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@SenatorLankford
@BrandiChane
More than 1/3 will close wi the in months if this is not fixed soon. I guarantee it. Call any community pharmacy and hear the horror stories. It’s scary and heartbreaking. Our store has been open since 1907; in the 3rd generation of pharmacists.
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Yes!! Total immoral greedy crooks. Sometimes my only solace is knowing that they will have to answer to God’s judgement for ETERNITY for what they are doing to patients, employers, and pharmacies. Sinful.
@pelterkevin
Preach. I’m so sick and tired of losing money on brand names when the f*ing
#PBMs
know the cost and still screw us!
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Another gift to the Goliaths (PBMs) from the money and reelection obsessed politicians, while we Davids (independent pharmacists) die on the battleground while trying to care for our patients and get fairly paid. It’s a sick and disgusting system. Shame on them.
Congress has abandoned its attempt to reform how PBMs operate in an upcoming package to fund the federal government, 11 sources said.
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@LaurenDC5
@cecusnret
@sarahpriestle
@BoesingLoretta
Absolutely criminal. I hope there are legal repercussions for them eventually.
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@HokiePharmacist
We have never seen meaningful results that actually help us. The “victories” have been hollow and have no teeth. I have yet to see anything that actually helps our bottom line. Lots of great ideas and big talk but rarely any actual results.
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@CynicalPublius
I use to think this kind of post was tinfoil paranoia. Now I totally believe it. Especially after the “debate”.
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@WallStreetApes
Keep up the good flight. You are on the right side of this. Please tell me why anyone would not support this??? I seriously want to know their reasons.
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Great news for Louisiana! Can we get some help in North Carolina please?
@NCGOP
@NCDemParty
@NCPharmacists
#pharmacy
🚨 Big news!🚨 Major Win for Independent Pharmacies in Louisiana:
Senate Bill 444 passed the House of Representatives yesterday evening with overwhelming bipartisan support. Our member's focused advocacy efforts over the last few years made this possible! 🙌
#LaLege
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Watch. Make the time. Get your advocates to watch it too.
The White House round table about PBM racketeering is today at noon . Everyone in healthcare should be watching this. Shoutout to
@TruthRX
@mcuban
and
@linakhanFTC
for their work. This would not be happening without you.
#TwitteRx
#Pharmacy
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@TruthRX
@ChuckGrassley
@tedcruz
@TomOliverson
@RepJamesComer
I’m a 3rd generation pharmacist and our pharmacy is 116 years old. It’s never been harder to operate.
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@SenToomey
Listen to the other side of the argument before you start spouting PBM propaganda. Lots of proof that your statement is exactly the opposite of reality.
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So unfair to small business and our communities.
The ‘one-pager’ that started it all! Let’s get this done today!
#usingmaidennametoday
😳
#gapol
#sinedie
#sb198
@GeorgiaPharmacy
@apci
@Greg_Reybold
#independentpharmacy
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@thestustustudio
Simply spoiled brats having a hissy fit. Good try though. It did accomplish revealing their hypocrisy.
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@eyeslasho
People do know how much money that have after expenses. That is what matters. Not statistics. Duh.
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This is what is wrong with politics. And why PBM reform is so difficult - even when everyone knows they are killing healthcare access. And unethical.
Tulsi Gabbard tells Russell Brand her firsthand experience with the overwhelming power of corporate lobbyists in Washington
“The briefings that I got as a new Democrat in Congress … had a PowerPoint slide showing how your average day would look, and it was shocking”
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This! Yet they continue to allow it to happen. Insanity.
It’s so fucking dumb that pharmacies are forced to sell products below their own cost of product just because their competitor controls the reimbursement, but their competitors don’t have to.
No other industry operates like this unless it’s on purpose.
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@txsportsdoc
Independent pharmacies want in on that plan too. Better care. Better costs. This has to happen.
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Something has to happen SOON!
It’s getting to this point for our federal and state government. Either LEGISLATE and force PBMs to pay us what they have stolen/are stealing OR provide grants to keep us open until you can. I prefer legislation.
@RonWyden
@MikeCrapo
@ChuckGrassley
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@HokiePharmacist
@CMSGov
We went from heroes to zeroes pretty quickly to the agencies that are meant to protect us from PBM abuses. Quickly losing hope that it will be fixed in time to save most of us, which is just what the PBMs want - even more monopoly power.
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@BrandiChane
@RepJamesComer
@FTC
@JusticeATR
@CMSGov
@TruthRX
@RonWyden
@linakhanFTC
“As expected, exam reports uncovered a variety of issues regarding the operations of PBMs, and their effect on pharmacies and consumers. Issues regarding limited access and unequal treatment of pharmacies are common findings, including imposing inappropriate credentialing
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@SenWarren
Who has threatened IVF? I’ve no heard anyone talk about blocking that. Is it scare mongering?
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@BrandiChane
@HokiePharmacist
@pelterkevin
@FTC
@RonWyden
@MikeCrapo
@A_Ciaccia
They also owe us interest and penalties!
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Money should not control the facts or the narrative in Washington. It is always detrimental to the public. Always.
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@pelterkevin
@BrianKempGA
Has he floated any explanation? Every pharmacist needs to raise total hell about this to prevent it from happening in other states. PBMs play dirty. We need to show that their side is the WRONG side for the constituents.
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@SenatorTester
Please help us now!! Independent pharmacies are closing every day now leaving pharmacy deserts in rural areas. We cannot sustain all the claims paid under our cost. Please help. It is urgent.
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@redlgb1969
@mcuban
We should not have to lose on a single prescription. Which means we need a margin of $10+ just to cover the overhead. We are so far from that that it is scary.
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@DocNetyoutube
Finally I feel like I am following someone looking for the truth and not blindly following either side. It is so hard to find the unblemished, nonpartisan truth. Thank you.
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@LIPAPharmacy
Is there also a minimum dispensing fee? Getting paid at dead cost is still losing money.
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@BSGPharmD
@ArdisWatkins
@SEANC
@Sthrnbelle211
@DrDanKnecht
Please see her reply to me regarding meeting with her at her office. We need to put together a group of independent pharmacists and other supporters who have seen how the PBMs drive up costs and limit access, and go see her.
@BoesingLoretta
@mcuban
@A_Ciaccia
please tag other
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How did Florida do this? Why isn’t this happening across the board?
All plans sponsors should be demanding we are made whole. Excellent work by Florida Pharmacy Assn.
@TXpharmAssn
it’s time to step up. Texas State Health Benefit plan it’s time to force a change.
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Independent pharmacists read that and say - “hold my beer”.
@wendyndavis
@Meta
If you think these metrics are misleading, wait until I tell you about AWP WAC MAC DIR GER/BER
@MarkCuker
@TruthRX
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@SenatorBerger
please help us pass the PBM legislation before we all disappear and patients will not have a pharmacy.
"Why should we believe you over the PBMs?"
This is a quote from
@SenatorBerger
, who is holding up legislation requiring PBMs to pay pharmacies at least NADAC and no lower than the PBMs pay themselves.
Well, Phil, let me explain why you should believe us
#TwitteRx
#Pharmacy
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