John Vinson

𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐁𝐌 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐁𝐌𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 Today, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the constitutionality of Arkansas Act 624, a first-of-its-kind law which prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from directly or indirectly owning, operating, or holding retail and mail-order pharmacy permits within Arkansas. The law has been put on hold while PBMs challenge its constitutionality. The Court of Appeals will decide whether the law must remain on hold as the underlying legal challenge is heard in the trial court. The PBMs argue Act 624 discriminatorily blocks out-of-state entities from participating in the state's pharmacy market. During oral argument, the judges expressed skepticism toward the PBMs’ position. The judges obtained the PBM attorney’s acknowledgment that Act 624 would prohibit all vertical integration, whether the PBM is based out of Arkansas or in Arkansas, thereby directly undermining the PBMs’ primary argument. The judges also were concerned that accepting the PBMs’ argument would hamper state antitrust enforcement more generally. Arkansas’s attorney made clear that Act 624 applied equally to in-state and out-of-state PBMs and therefore did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Dormant Commerce Clause and effectively addressed all of the PBMs’ discussion points, even noting that the PBMs were relying on statements from a single legislator in a podcast to argue discriminatory intent. A decision by the Court of Appeals is expected within months.

🏛️ 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐬 Thank you to @mcuban for saying out loud what independent pharmacy has been saying for years. 💬 “I personally believe that your local pharmacy going out of business is more expensive to the community and the state than any amount of fee that we could pay to the pharmacy,” Cuban said. 🤝 Cuban explained that his company, Cost Plus Drug Co., pays pharmacies a $12 dispensing fee because preserving local pharmacies and the pharmacist-patient relationship has value. As he put it, one of the most important connections in healthcare is those “last five feet” when the pharmacist is face-to-face with the patient, providing guidance about their medications. His comments came during a discussion focused on some of the biggest questions facing healthcare today: how we lower healthcare costs through better delivery and financing models, encourage innovative health plans without sacrificing access, help small and mid-size employers afford coverage, and give consumers better information about healthcare cost and quality. That is exactly where community pharmacy belongs in the conversation. 🏘️ A meaningful professional dispensing fee isn't simply another healthcare expense. It is an investment in access, prevention, medication safety, and keeping healthcare available in the communities that need it. 👏 Thank you, Mark Cuban, for recognizing that losing the local pharmacy ultimately costs communities far more than paying pharmacies fairly to keep their doors open. Thank you Chairman Frank for exploring paths for affordable and effective healthcare for all Texans! Watch and Listen: aprx-public-static-assets.s3…