In this week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I visit with Lacey Stone-Tillman, whose family has owned the Medicine Shoppe for nearly 30 years.
If you have ever used a local pharmacy for your prescription drugs, you’ll want to listen to this episode.
If you are a proud supporter of free markets, you’ll want to listen to this episode.
If you believe in shopping local, and in supporting hometown businesses, you’ll want to listen to this episode.
While most people don’t know about PBMs - Pharmacy Benefit Managers - these middle men are working to increase the price of prescription drugs, forcing rural patients to use their mail order pharmacies, and killing locally owned pharmacies.
While PBMs have been billed as a way to save consumers money by leveraging heavy negotiating power against pharmaceutical companies. What they are, in practice, is part of the consolidation and integration of a healthcare system that is driven far more by extracting profit from patients than in caring for them.
You’ll hear Lacey talk about some of the methods and practices these PBMs use to deny payment to her family’s business. You’ll also learn how insurance companies are vertically integrating - in some cases making money on every level of healthcare, from the insurer to long-term care facilities, prescribing clinics, and everything in between.
The cost to our communities is incalculable. Locally owned pharmacies are being pushed out of business at an alarming rate - forcing residents to travel for access to in-person pharmacies or to access PBM-owned online pharmacies.
Lacey shared a few details about the effect on her family’s business - and our community - over the years.
”I wanted to share with you a couple more details about Rick Stone's running of his business:
-He has employed around 50 students (mostly from HCC) during his time owning The Shoppe. Many have been pharmacy students who go on to KU or other schools of pharmacy. Some of those now own their own pharmacies or work as pharmacists in many different parts of Kansas. Some of the students have gone on to become or are pursuing degrees as nurses, radiology techs, therapists and even farmers.
-He created a section of a tiny Shoppe that he calls "Home Sweet Hutch." He has devoted it to locally made products where entrepreneurs can sell their goods for 100% profit. We take nothing from their sales and therefore, they do not need to raise prices for the customers to cover any upcharge. Even as his bottom line dwindles, he is committed to keeping this going.
-It seems that at least twice a week, people from sports or dance teams, school fundraisers and charitable groups are asking him for donations. His motto has always been as long as they're local and they come in themselves to speak with him, he will make sure to donate to them. He has been having to make cuts to advertising and other services, but he keeps on donating to charitable organizations….
My dad shows us the numbers each month. We are continually gaining new customers and we fill more prescriptions each month than the previous. As steadily as we are growing, that is how steadily we are also profiting less and less. We keep a super full staff to keep up with our ever-growing business, but profits shrink. I know we are not unique in this. More and more people want to support independent pharmacies, but they are being forced to close due to PBM pharmacy steering and audits.”
And yet for all this is costing us as patients and consumers, there has been almost zero political will to address this growing concern. The reasons for this are varied - but the lobbying power for insurance providers and the PBMs they use and own is incredible. They form very personal relationships with key members of legislative leadership, while others have profited from the status quo of our extractive insurance practices. Additionally, these lobbyists and the firms that hire them, have unlimited resources to keep lawmakers from probing too much or fighting for change.
Few lawmakers - in Kansas or at the federal level - have shown any interest in tackling an issue that adversely affects almost every single one of us. A handful of PBMs control 80 percent of the prescription drug market - yet there are few reporting requirements or regulations to ensure that patients and pharmacies are being treated fairly.
As local pharmacies close, patients lose access to trusted information, and communities lose vested partners that support local employment, non-profits, and sports teams. The total cost of the abominable practices of insurance companies and their PBMs will never truly be known or undestood.
I encourage you to listen to Lacey tell her family’s story and experience. I think you’ll be saddened and shocked, and hopefully, mad enough to want to force your leaders to want to finally do something about it.
