U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea joined attorneys general from 38 states and territories Monday in calling on Congress to bar pharmacy benefit managers from owning or operating pharmacies — a move they say is necessary to protect independent drugstores and consumer access to affordable medications, the Justice Department announced.
“Pharmacy benefit managers were meant to serve as intermediaries to help manage drug costs, but instead, they’ve used their position to dominate the marketplace and crush independent pharmacies,” Rhea said in a statement. “It’s time for Congress to act decisively and prohibit PBMs from owning or operating pharmacies.”
In a joint letter led by the attorneys general of Arkansas, Massachusetts, Missouri and Vermont, the bipartisan group warned congressional leaders that PBMs have shifted from administrative facilitators to powerful conglomerates that exert control over drug pricing and pharmacy competition. The top PBMs — 4now vertically integrated with insurers and health care providers — operate their own pharmacies, while simultaneously managing prescription plans that affect their competitors, the letter said.
According to the coalition, this structure allows PBMs to impose arbitrary, confusing and unfair contract terms on independent pharmacies, leveraging their market position to edge out smaller rivals.
The letter urges Congress to pass legislation that would prevent PBMs and their parent companies from owning any pharmacy, arguing that such action is critical to restoring transparency and competition in the prescription drug market.
Attorneys general from states including California, New York, Texas, and Florida joined the effort, along with representatives from Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories such as American Samoa.
