Ryan visit promotes pharmacy reform legislation

Ryan visit promotes pharmacy reform legislation

Officials and pharmacists gathered at Pine Plains Pharmacy on Monday, Feb. 17, to underscore the need for pharmacy benefit manager reform, an effort toward fairness in drug prices for local family-owned pharmacies. Left to right are Chris Drago, Dutchess County legislator, D-Stanfordville; U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., at podium; Pine Plains pharmacist Nasir Mahmood; area pharmacist Eric Lambert; Pine Plains pharmacist Rehan Mahmood; and Mark Freitas, Washingtonville pharmacist.

Photo submitted

PINE PLAINS — Highlighting concerns about the immediate and long-term survival of local family-owned pharmacies and an effort to pass legislation which would help control prices those pharmacies pay for drugs, brought U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan, D-Kingston, to the Pine Plains pharmacy on Monday, Feb. 17.

Elected officials, local and area pharmacists and residents attended the event, numbering about 20, said Pine Plains pharmacist Nasir Mahmood during a conversation on Wednesday, Feb. 26. He said he had been pleased at the number of elected representatives who were present.

“We’re trying our best,” Mahmood said. “It’s a matter of getting the legislation into the government funding package and getting it passed,” he added.

The intent of the Feb. 17 event was to underscore the need for reform to the policies which allow pharmacy benefit managers to dictate prices that local pharmacies pay for drugs prescribed for their customers, skimming off the profit margins and leaving local pharmacies to deal with minimal profit or frequently, loss.

Pharamcy benefit managers are the middlemen standing between the pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance companies, actively negotiating drug prices. Ryan’s office indicated that three major benefit managers control 80% of the current prescription drug market and realize $450 billion in revenue.

Pharmacy benefit managers also systematically reimburse pharmacies less than their cost, which is driving local pharmacies out of business.

Rep. Ryan is attempting to reinstate bipartisan legislation within the Congressional Relief package that will be voted on in mid-March. He is co-sponsor of the Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act that would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from charging Medicaid more than they paid pharmacies for a drug. Another piece of legislation, Pharmacists Fight Back Act, would require adequate reimbursement to pharmacists, prohibiting the benefit managers from steering patients to their own large-chain pharmacies. Major segments of that legislation were included in the December 2024 government funding package, but were removed at the last minute, Ryan’s office said.

Congressman Ryan indicated that March 14 is the deadline for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Congressional Relief funding package. He has formally requested U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to reinstate the pharmacy benefit reform legislation into that funding bill.

“I am thankful to Congressman Ryan to take this initiative as he has been a friend of independent pharmacies and small businesses,” said Mahmood, who also serves on the board of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York.

In the 1960s, pharmacy benefit managers began to process drug claims for insurance companies, but by the 1970s they were serving as middlemen between manufacturers, insurance companies and pharmacies, adjudicating prices. Today, they not only adjudicate claims, but now they develop and manage pharmacy networks, determine the list of drugs to be covered by insurance, set copay amounts and serve to channel the patient to a particular choice of pharmacy.

“I’m demanding Speaker Johnson have the courage to stand with the American people and against the Big Pharma companies ripping us all off,” Rep. Ryan said.

Latest News

Amenia board honors employees for service

Long-term town employees were recognized at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, June 12. Honorees pictured with Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, were Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the Town Garage, center, for her 35 years of service to the town and Megan Chamberlin, current Highway Superintendent, for 20 years.

Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Acknowledging the many years of service accumulated by town employees, the Town Board paused to honor that service at its meeting on Thursday, June 12.

“Thank you for making a difference,” said Town Supervisor Leo Blackman in recognizing Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the town garage, for her 35 years of service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Historic marker dedicated at Amenia Union Cemetery

In anticipation of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in 2026, new historic markers are appearing at each of the local cemeteries where Revolutionary War veterans are buried. Unveiling the new marker at Amenia Union Cemetery on Saturday, June 21, were left to right, Town Historian Betsy Strauss, Jim Middlebrook representing the regional chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Gail Seymour, President of the Union Cemetery Association.

Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — One by one, new historic markers are appearing at local cemeteries where Revolutionary War dead are buried. On Saturday, June 21, community members gathered to see a new marker unveiled at Amenia Union Cemetery on Leedsville Road.

A tent provided welcome shade for the attendees and refreshments as about 30 residents gathered for the unveiling and to share stories of local history with one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton Street Fair celebration June 28

Bee Bee the clown, face painters and a community wide scavenger hunt are among the activities planned for the Millerton Street Fair in Downtown Millerton on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton News, in partnership with the North East Community Center (NECC) and the Millerton Business Alliance, is hosting its first Street Fair on Saturday in a celebration of the town.

Rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, the fair will bring together local nonprofits and businesses, with live music, entertainment, kids’ activities, local eats, and family fun in Veterans Park, in front of the Millerton Inn, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millbrook Historical Society announces summer Quaker lecture series

The Nine Partners Road Quaker Meetinghouse, built in 1780, will be the site of two summer lectures sponsored by the Millbrook Historical Society.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Long in the planning, the Millbrook Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring two lectures in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Both lectures relating to Quaker history are to be held in the historic Quaker Meeting House on Nine Partners Road.

For the first talk, scheduled for Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m., the historical society has invited Sarah Gronningsater, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, to talk on “Quakers, Anti-slavery, and the American Revolution.” The topic will explore the role that New York’s Quakers, especially in the Hudson Valley, played in the rise of the anti-slavery movement that followed the American Revolution.

Keep ReadingShow less