Latest / Pharmacy Podcast Network / Pharmacists Fight Back! Live on Capitol Hill | PBM Reform; Presented by APCI
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: You are listening to the global network of podcasters dedicated
- 0:09Speaker 1: to the pharmacy profession.
- 0:10Speaker 2: Welcome to the Pharmacy Podcast Network.
- 0:33Speaker 3: Welcome to the PBM Reform Podcast, where we dive deep
- 0:37Speaker 3: into the world of pharmaceutical benefit management, cutting through the
- 0:41Speaker 3: noise to uncover the truth. Since twenty nineteen, we've been
- 0:45Speaker 3: your go to source for the latest on how PBMs
- 0:48Speaker 3: impact patient care, drug pricing, and the very future of pharmacy.
- 0:54Speaker 3: Here we champion the role of pharmacists, the most knowledgeable
- 0:58Speaker 3: advocates for medication safety and expertise. Join us as we
- 1:03Speaker 3: expose and generate discussions that are reshaping healthcare and explore
- 1:07Speaker 3: how we build a better payment system which focuses on
- 1:10Speaker 3: advancing pharmacy care.
- 1:19Speaker 4: This is Todd Gurray with the Pharmacy Podcast Network here
- 1:22Speaker 4: at the Capital today, December eleventh, Pharmacists Fight Back Act.
- 1:28Speaker 4: We're waiting on state Representative auchen Class. We're here with
- 1:32Speaker 4: a representative, Jake Auchenklass. You've been on the PBM Reform
- 1:35Speaker 4: Podcast before. Thank you so much for being here.
- 1:37Speaker 5: Pleasure.
- 1:38Speaker 6: That's good to be back.
- 1:39Speaker 4: So tell us just our listeners who didn't get to
- 1:42Speaker 4: be here at the Capitol what's the effort of the
- 1:46Speaker 4: Pharmacist Fight Back Act.
- 1:47Speaker 5: More than fifty pharmacists from eighteen states here at the
- 1:50Speaker 5: Capitol to continue our work building bipartisan momentum for Pharmacists
- 1:55Speaker 5: Fight Back Act, which is the most muscular PBM reform
- 1:58Speaker 5: bill in Congress that would crack down on patient steering,
- 2:03Speaker 5: on spread pricing, and implement fair market braced cost plus
- 2:09Speaker 5: pricing so that our pharmacists can focus on serving their patients,
- 2:13Speaker 5: run sustainable businesses and not have to deal with constant
- 2:15Speaker 5: harassment from these fortune ten PBMs.
- 2:18Speaker 4: Jake, you have been just amazing at bringing everyone together,
- 2:23Speaker 4: Republicans Democrats to this. How have you been able to
- 2:26Speaker 4: do such things like that? I've very seldom do we
- 2:30Speaker 4: see so much camaraderie between the two parties.
- 2:32Speaker 6: And it's not me, it's the pharmacists themselves.
- 2:34Speaker 5: They're the ones who have come to the Capital and
- 2:36Speaker 5: have talked to members and shown them the issue.
- 2:39Speaker 6: Once a member hears.
- 2:40Speaker 5: About the issue, it's sort of self evident that things
- 2:44Speaker 5: need to change.
- 2:45Speaker 6: But it is a complicated issue, right, it's sort of wonky.
- 2:47Speaker 5: You know how all the pricing works and what the
- 2:49Speaker 5: business model for a pharmacist looks like so it does
- 2:51Speaker 5: take some education. And the pharmacist are the ones who
- 2:54Speaker 5: have taken time away from their family, away from their
- 2:56Speaker 5: businesses which needs their constant attention, and have come here
- 2:59Speaker 5: to do that work.
- 3:00Speaker 6: Glass Congress that got us fifty five.
- 3:01Speaker 5: Co sponsors, and because we had that big bipartisan co sponsorship,
- 3:05Speaker 5: now this Congress we have the attention of the committees
- 3:07Speaker 5: of jurisdiction, then I think we can take even even
- 3:10Speaker 5: more steps towards towards passage.
- 3:13Speaker 4: Representative of Aukinclass, Thank you so much, Greg Ribold, thank
- 3:21Speaker 4: you so much for sponsoring the Pharmacy Podcast Network here
- 3:24Speaker 4: at the Pharmacy's Fight Back Act.
- 3:26Speaker 7: Yes, Hey, I'm so glad you could be here for
- 3:28Speaker 7: I mean, you've been a part of this for a
- 3:29Speaker 7: long time, and today's a big day in the fight
- 3:31Speaker 7: for reigning in unfair PBN practices, and so means a
- 3:35Speaker 7: lot that you could be here with us.
- 3:36Speaker 8: Well, I was so proud to see you here.
- 3:38Speaker 4: I was so proud to see pharmacists united for truth
- 3:40Speaker 4: and transparency here. But I was really moved by seeing
- 3:45Speaker 4: members of Congress and members of the Senate coming together.
- 3:49Speaker 4: There was no difference between Republican and Democrat.
- 3:52Speaker 8: What does that mean to you?
- 3:53Speaker 6: Oh?
- 3:53Speaker 7: It means so much, right, I mean, this is truly
- 3:56Speaker 7: a bipartisan issue. And to see you know, Congressman aucin
- 3:59Speaker 7: Class and Representatives harsh Burger and Chairman Comer, who's a
- 4:03Speaker 7: co lead on the on the Pharmacist Fight Back Act
- 4:07Speaker 7: in the Federal Employee Health Plan, just unbelievable to see
- 4:10Speaker 7: this kind of bipartisanship come together and a special moment.
- 4:15Speaker 4: Greg, This has been really special. This is an amazing
- 4:18Speaker 4: episode of the PBM Reform Podcast, brought to you by
- 4:20Speaker 4: the APCI Buying Group. We thank you for everything that
- 4:24Speaker 4: you're doing for our industry.
- 4:26Speaker 7: Yeah, now, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here,
- 4:28Speaker 7: and it's a pleasure to be in this fight. And
- 4:30Speaker 7: the one thing I'd leave everybody with is, you know,
- 4:33Speaker 7: pharmacy has won across the country at the state level
- 4:36Speaker 7: so many times, and this is a big bill. This
- 4:39Speaker 7: will be a heavy lift. It is a big fight, right.
- 4:42Speaker 7: This is the most aggressive PPM reform that's ever been
- 4:44Speaker 7: introduced at the federal level. And something to me that
- 4:46Speaker 7: makes the stay so special is the best of the
- 4:49Speaker 7: best came to DC folks who have won in Louisiana,
- 4:53Speaker 7: folks who have won in Arkansas, who've won in Kentucky,
- 4:57Speaker 7: who've won in Georgia. Alabama had a massive year this year, right,
- 5:01Speaker 7: Some of the best, literally the best advocates in pharmacy
- 5:06Speaker 7: came here and everybody converged on the Hill to fight
- 5:09Speaker 7: for this bill and to sort of take that culture
- 5:11Speaker 7: of winning that they have in their states and bring
- 5:14Speaker 7: that to DC.
- 5:16Speaker 4: Greg rab Old, APC. I thank you so much for
- 5:19Speaker 4: what you do for us.
- 5:19Speaker 7: Thank you, my friend.
- 5:25Speaker 4: Hey, I'm here with Bill Schmidt, Nick here at the
- 5:28Speaker 4: Pharmacist fight Back at gathering here at the Capitol.
- 5:32Speaker 6: Bill.
- 5:32Speaker 8: It's an honor to be with you here and spend
- 5:34Speaker 8: some time with you. How are you doing, good time?
- 5:36Speaker 6: Thank you so much.
- 5:37Speaker 9: It's a good day. We've got lots of great bipartisan support,
- 5:40Speaker 9: some real power players, committee chairs, bipartisan. And then on
- 5:47Speaker 9: top of it, there are some pharmacy professionals here that
- 5:52Speaker 9: span generations of families. You know, I'm here as a
- 5:57Speaker 9: patient advocate of loss of my son. There's all people
- 6:00Speaker 9: here too, representing the harm of their families here to today,
- 6:04Speaker 9: and it brings tears to my eyes a little bit
- 6:08Speaker 9: and probably the culminating fact we had another pharmacy just
- 6:10Speaker 9: close and announced today. I mean, it's just it's sickening.
- 6:13Speaker 9: It's sickening, but it's going to be a great thing.
- 6:18Speaker 9: Congressman Ack and Claus put a challenge to the pharmacists
- 6:21Speaker 9: by getting co sponsors. So we need every pharmacist to
- 6:25Speaker 9: get a co sponsor for these bills out there, and
- 6:28Speaker 9: every advocate, every family member who believes in this. We
- 6:31Speaker 9: need co sponsors to support this legislation.
- 6:34Speaker 4: Bill Schmidt, Nick, thank you so much for being on
- 6:36Speaker 4: the show, and the PBM Reform Podcast will always be
- 6:39Speaker 4: supporting you.
- 6:40Speaker 8: A shout out to our pharmacist.
- 6:41Speaker 4: If you want to link up with Bill, he's active
- 6:43Speaker 4: on LinkedIn and tell them the website, the Patient Protector website.
- 6:47Speaker 9: Yeah, if you want to learn more, go to Patientprotector
- 6:50Speaker 9: dot us and follow the website. As we get another
- 6:53Speaker 9: episode of our modern medical Mafia coming out very soon.
- 6:56Speaker 8: Thank you.
- 6:57Speaker 6: Bill.
- 7:02Speaker 4: Hey, we are here at the gathering for Pharmacists Fight
- 7:05Speaker 4: Back Act and we have a patient mother here with
- 7:09Speaker 4: us today.
- 7:09Speaker 8: Please introduce yourself to our listeners.
- 7:11Speaker 10: Hi, I'm the mother of Kara Reese. She is an
- 7:15Speaker 10: MS victim from the PBM. My name is Cassandra Ashby
- 7:20Speaker 10: and not only am I her mother, I'm also a nurse,
- 7:23Speaker 10: quality improvement nurse and a clinical practice consultant for a
- 7:27Speaker 10: major health plan in the line of business currently Medicare
- 7:31Speaker 10: advantage previously Affordable Care Act.
- 7:35Speaker 4: So how have the PBMs prevented your daughter from receiving
- 7:39Speaker 4: the care that she needs and what do you think
- 7:41Speaker 4: needs to happen to get past these barriers?
- 7:45Speaker 10: Well, she wasn't done the Affordable Care Act, which my understanding,
- 7:50Speaker 10: and with my line of businesses, those patients with MS,
- 7:53Speaker 10: they never had a problem getting their OKRAVIS or their DMT.
- 7:59Speaker 10: It was a past shouldn't mind having MS a background
- 8:02Speaker 10: for patient care.
- 8:04Speaker 8: And you're a nurse, so you understand this.
- 8:06Speaker 10: I understand it very well. And a little more of
- 8:10Speaker 10: the rabbit holes and the political side now, which I
- 8:12Speaker 10: didn't know before. But I asked the questions why, and
- 8:15Speaker 10: I have a lot of information to support a lot
- 8:20Speaker 10: of need for PBM change. So Kara her self funded
- 8:24Speaker 10: health plan a union plan in Indiana through her spouse.
- 8:29Speaker 10: The PBM denied her. They delayed, delayed, delayed, kept her
- 8:32Speaker 10: in the dark, and then denied her access to the
- 8:34Speaker 10: prescribed treatment that her world renowned specialist neurologists treating MS
- 8:40Speaker 10: prescribed for her. It was months and months of gatekeeping
- 8:43Speaker 10: and steering. They wanted to steer her to a lesser
- 8:47Speaker 10: treatment option. In the midst of all this.
- 8:50Speaker 11: She.
- 8:52Speaker 10: Has been very stressful for her. I did not have
- 8:58Speaker 10: any idea this is going on behind the scenes. It's
- 9:05Speaker 10: ugly disturbing, and this is why I call MS victims. Partly,
- 9:13Speaker 10: there's more to it later that probably will need to
- 9:15Speaker 10: come out, but now it's not the time.
- 9:22Speaker 8: I have literally.
- 9:25Speaker 10: Had to dismantle myself with go back to my education,
- 9:31Speaker 10: my exposures, my experiences and evaluations, and relook at everything
- 9:37Speaker 10: in new details. And it's been pretty traumatic to learn
- 9:43Speaker 10: what I've learned. And it's time for this change to happen.
- 9:47Speaker 10: And if a MS patient wants to have treatment access,
- 9:52Speaker 10: they need to be fully informed and provided the access
- 9:57Speaker 10: that they're prescribing physician suggest they need. MS is a mess.
- 10:05Speaker 10: It's not a one size fits all PBMs should never play.
- 10:11Speaker 8: With their lives.
- 10:14Speaker 10: This has put my daughter her future in jeopardy for disability.
- 10:19Speaker 10: She just graduated college, was going to do her American dream,
- 10:25Speaker 10: and now she can't so now what taxpayers are going
- 10:29Speaker 10: to pay for her for the rest of her life,
- 10:32Speaker 10: for her husband, who's working a union job, have to
- 10:35Speaker 10: quit his job to take care of her.
- 10:37Speaker 12: What are we up against?
- 10:39Speaker 10: This disease is becoming more popular. This is a young
- 10:44Speaker 10: person disease, including teenagers around the age of fourteen, fifteen, sixteen,
- 10:51Speaker 10: that young adults age twenty to forty. This is a
- 10:56Speaker 10: growing concern and u xpayers dollars are going to be
- 11:02Speaker 10: paying for this. Who is going to be the fiduciary responsibility?
- 11:06Speaker 10: That was my first question. Who is the fiduciary responsibility
- 11:11Speaker 10: for this? We have a major problem. It's got to stop.
- 11:17Speaker 4: Well, I thank you so much for being part of
- 11:19Speaker 4: our show, and we're here for you. Pharmacists across the
- 11:23Speaker 4: nation are here for you, and we're here to fight back.
- 11:25Speaker 8: So we appreciate you being part of this. Thank you
- 11:27Speaker 8: very much. I appreciate your time to.
- 11:34Speaker 4: Introduce yourself. This is the PBM Reform Podcast. You are
- 11:36Speaker 4: a pharmacy owner, You're a tough you're a fighter down
- 11:40Speaker 4: in what part of Florida?
- 11:41Speaker 8: Coco of Florida.
- 11:43Speaker 6: Hey, this is.
- 11:43Speaker 13: Don Butterfield owner West Cocoa pharmacy and compounding, big fan
- 11:47Speaker 13: of Todds here. Appreciate all that you do for pharmacy.
- 11:49Speaker 13: This is an exciting day, and this is an exciting
- 11:52Speaker 13: legislation and we're gonna get as many sponsors as we
- 11:55Speaker 13: can this afternoon.
- 11:56Speaker 4: So what did you think of the bypart us in
- 12:00Speaker 4: gathering of our state representatives in Congress and Senator Comer.
- 12:07Speaker 8: I think it's great.
- 12:08Speaker 13: I'm a huge fan of Representative Gomer.
- 12:10Speaker 6: I just said that.
- 12:10Speaker 13: I was, you know, fangirling all in all of him.
- 12:14Speaker 13: But it's a bipartison issue, so it's kind of like
- 12:17Speaker 13: it's no brainer really, so and I want to say
- 12:19Speaker 13: just this, It's about time.
- 12:20Speaker 8: That's what I have to say.
- 12:21Speaker 13: It's about time, and hopefully this will actually do something
- 12:24Speaker 13: to level the play and field, but save taxpayer money too.
- 12:27Speaker 13: I mean, let's you know, the corporations are taking all
- 12:30Speaker 13: the money out of the system, and that should that
- 12:32Speaker 13: should bother everybody, obviously us and our patients. I mean, Todd, honestly,
- 12:38Speaker 13: we're about a day away from possibly not taking any
- 12:41Speaker 13: insurance because every day you look at your numbers, you're
- 12:43Speaker 13: thinking what am I doing?
- 12:44Speaker 8: What am I doing?
- 12:44Speaker 13: So all of our other things that we do that
- 12:46Speaker 13: are non insurance related are carrying everybody in with insurance.
- 12:51Speaker 13: At this point, it's very sad, but we're hanging in there.
- 12:54Speaker 4: Don thank you so much for being part of the
- 12:56Speaker 4: show and for fighting as much as you do and
- 12:58Speaker 4: for driving a traveling up from Florida to be in
- 13:01Speaker 4: this cold weather.
- 13:02Speaker 8: It is called my toes or frozer right now. Thanks Dot,
- 13:05Speaker 8: Thanks Dot.
- 13:10Speaker 2: Frank Tant with clearborand Pharmacy and also with Alabama Pharmacy Association.
- 13:16Speaker 4: Okay, what it's it like to be here today at
- 13:17Speaker 4: the Capitol on the sea bipartisan support for the Pharmacists
- 13:20Speaker 4: Fight Back Act.
- 13:22Speaker 2: Well, it's exciting because we've seen the success in Alabama
- 13:26Speaker 2: this year and so to be here be a part
- 13:29Speaker 2: of this as kind of it launches off, we are,
- 13:32Speaker 2: it builds a lot of excitement.
- 13:33Speaker 12: So we're we're looking forward to what's going to happen.
- 13:37Speaker 4: Talk to us about the patient impact and people that
- 13:40Speaker 4: are suffering in your community and what happens when maybe
- 13:43Speaker 4: one of their medications is knocked off formulary they don't
- 13:45Speaker 4: know what to do. Talk to us about those kinds
- 13:48Speaker 4: of experiences as well.
- 13:49Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have patients that every day we tell
- 13:52Speaker 2: them that we can't feel it due to the cost
- 13:55Speaker 2: and what the PBUM is reimbursing us, and a lot
- 13:59Speaker 2: of time they don't even they don't they don't know
- 14:03Speaker 2: how to navigate the alternative. So they're either having a
- 14:06Speaker 2: drive of another fifteen twenty minutes down the road to
- 14:08Speaker 2: try to find something and they won't do that, or
- 14:11Speaker 2: they're forced into a system that they don't, like I.
- 14:14Speaker 6: Said, know how to navigate.
- 14:15Speaker 2: So these are your vulnerable elderly people who if you
- 14:18Speaker 2: bring up sometimes you know, we need an email to
- 14:22Speaker 2: help log into the system. They're lost in the confused,
- 14:25Speaker 2: they don't know what to do, and so they just
- 14:28Speaker 2: don't get it. They go without their medications a lot
- 14:30Speaker 2: of times.
- 14:31Speaker 4: We appreciate you being on the show. Introduce yourself to
- 14:40Speaker 4: our listeners.
- 14:40Speaker 14: Hey, I'm Bobby Giles, have rainsfew drugs in Rainswell, Alabama,
- 14:44Speaker 14: and I'm the government affairs director for the Alabama Pharmacy Association.
- 14:48Speaker 8: We appreciate you being here.
- 14:49Speaker 4: Talk to us about your experience today here at the Capitol, Washington, DC.
- 14:53Speaker 12: I find today very encouraging.
- 14:55Speaker 14: We have made some steps in Alabama in the commercial market,
- 14:59Speaker 14: but a good portion of our business across all of Alabama.
- 15:03Speaker 14: A lot of our patients are elderly medicare patients and
- 15:06Speaker 14: we've got to get this fixed.
- 15:08Speaker 4: Hey, we appreciate you being on the show and participating
- 15:11Speaker 4: in the PBM Reform podcast. A shout out to the
- 15:14Speaker 4: Alabama Pharmacists Association. I would love to have you back
- 15:17Speaker 4: on the show and we'll dig more into the impact
- 15:19Speaker 4: of PBM reform on your community.
- 15:22Speaker 14: I would love to do that because our patients deserve
- 15:24Speaker 14: access to care.
- 15:25Speaker 12: It's very important for us, and it's.
- 15:27Speaker 14: Just really hard when you've got to tell a patient
- 15:29Speaker 14: that you no longer take their insurance or that you cannot.
- 15:32Speaker 12: Fill their prescription. We want to fix that and this
- 15:34Speaker 12: will allow.
- 15:35Speaker 8: Us to do it. Thank you so much.
- 15:42Speaker 15: I'm Jonathan Marquis from Georgia and the Georgia Pharmacy Association,
- 15:46Speaker 15: the Academy of Independent Pharmacy, and I've got our pharmacist
- 15:50Speaker 15: and chairman with.
- 15:51Speaker 7: Me here, Scott Meeks.
- 15:53Speaker 15: But we appreciate all that the Pharmacy Podcast does. I mean,
- 15:57Speaker 15: this is the premiere podcast for all of pharmacy. So Todd,
- 16:01Speaker 15: as I've told you before, you're like the Howard Coseel
- 16:04Speaker 15: of Pharmacy Podcast.
- 16:05Speaker 7: We appreciate what you're doing well.
- 16:07Speaker 8: This is about you.
- 16:08Speaker 4: This is just my platform that I give to you.
- 16:11Speaker 4: Introduce yourself to our listeners since we don't have a camera.
- 16:14Speaker 16: Hey, I'm Scott Makes. I'm the chairman of the Academy
- 16:16Speaker 16: of Independent Pharmacy, Independent pharmacist down in Southeast Georgia, got
- 16:20Speaker 16: eight stores there, and I just want to appreciate tell
- 16:24Speaker 16: you how much we appreciate everything that you're doing too well.
- 16:27Speaker 4: We appreciate what you do for the nation and for
- 16:29Speaker 4: your community. Talk to us about today's presentations from some
- 16:33Speaker 4: of the congressmen and Jake achinclasses.
- 16:35Speaker 16: This is fantastic. We have needed this for years and
- 16:39Speaker 16: years and years. We have fought and fault and it
- 16:42Speaker 16: seems like now that we've got the backing of these
- 16:45Speaker 16: representative congressmen, it's just really going to push this thing forward.
- 16:49Speaker 16: It's fantastic, to say, fantastic to see the people that
- 16:54Speaker 16: I come out on this cold day of traveling from
- 16:57Speaker 16: all over the country and to fight for so it's amazing,
- 17:01Speaker 16: it really is.
- 17:02Speaker 4: Thank you for being part of the PBM Reform Podcast.
- 17:05Speaker 7: Thank you talking.
- 17:11Speaker 8: Introduce yourself to our listeners.
- 17:12Speaker 17: Hello Todd, I'm Nikki Bryant. I'm from Preston, Georgia. So
- 17:16Speaker 17: it's nice to see you today in person.
- 17:18Speaker 4: It's nice to finally meet you in person. I was
- 17:20Speaker 4: so moved by your presentation and your call out not
- 17:24Speaker 4: only for your business, but more importantly for your community.
- 17:28Speaker 17: Yes, not community needs me, no pressure, but there's fifteen
- 17:33Speaker 17: thousand patients that require me to stay open. So you know,
- 17:37Speaker 17: I don't know what they would do without me.
- 17:42Speaker 4: Well, fifteen thousand people times three times four, because of
- 17:45Speaker 4: their family members relying on them, and because of the
- 17:49Speaker 4: employers that are relying on them. It impacts an entire community,
- 17:53Speaker 4: entire and economy.
- 17:54Speaker 17: Yes, I don't think that we really realize sometimes the
- 17:58Speaker 17: trickle effect of pharmacy closure eyes on the entire ecosystem
- 18:03Speaker 17: of a rural town in a rural region. I mean
- 18:06Speaker 17: it trickles out to the banks that they have notes
- 18:09Speaker 17: and you know, the patients and the employers that you know,
- 18:14Speaker 17: help outcomes go down because there's not people there looking
- 18:17Speaker 17: out for people's health, and insurance rates go up because
- 18:21Speaker 17: help the outcomes are poor. So it's just it's a huge,
- 18:24Speaker 17: huge dynamic that I don't think people realize.
- 18:28Speaker 4: Nikki, thank you so much for being part of the
- 18:29Speaker 4: PBM Reform Podcast.
- 18:31Speaker 8: We appreciate you.
- 18:31Speaker 6: Thanks, thanks for having me.
- 18:38Speaker 1: I'm an Anu Gin, I'm an independent pharmacist at Boas
- 18:41Speaker 1: Discount Drugs.
- 18:41Speaker 8: In North Alabama.
- 18:43Speaker 4: Well, thank you so much for being on the show.
- 18:45Speaker 4: Talk to us about what it means to have bipartisan
- 18:47Speaker 4: support for the Pharmacists Fight Back Act.
- 18:50Speaker 1: I think it's clear that anyone that we have spoken
- 18:53Speaker 1: to over the years, whether it be on the state
- 18:54Speaker 1: level or on the national level, when people actually seek
- 18:57Speaker 1: to understand it, there is no writer left.
- 18:59Speaker 6: There is no right or wrong.
- 19:01Speaker 12: They see that it is corporate greed.
- 19:03Speaker 1: And it's taken advantage of the you know, mom and pops,
- 19:07Speaker 1: per se or the small businesses, small pharmacies, independents in America.
- 19:12Speaker 4: Well, we thank you for being here at the Capitol
- 19:15Speaker 4: and giving up your time and working here with us
- 19:18Speaker 4: and appreciate everything that you do.
- 19:19Speaker 8: Thank you for being on the show. Yeah, thank you
- 19:21Speaker 8: so much for coming. Doctor Marion mass It's so good
- 19:29Speaker 8: to have you here.
- 19:30Speaker 11: I'm thrilled to come here and honor to stand in
- 19:34Speaker 11: front of these professionals, these wonderful pharmacists that have been
- 19:38Speaker 11: serving their communities, you know, and you know, I'm a
- 19:41Speaker 11: very community minded person. When these small, little independent pharmacists close,
- 19:46Speaker 11: I just hurt for that couple in Arkansas. Essentially, what
- 19:50Speaker 11: happens is that pharmacy closes and CVS is going to
- 19:52Speaker 11: move in and set up shop, and now the money's
- 19:55Speaker 11: not in the community. The money is running back to Womsocket,
- 19:58Speaker 11: Rhode Island, or however you say that headquarters of CBS.
- 20:02Speaker 4: You see things from a physician's perspective that's very powerful.
- 20:06Speaker 4: Your voice is so strong on Twitter on different media platforms,
- 20:10Speaker 4: But talk to us from a physician's perspective of what
- 20:13Speaker 4: the pharmacists Fight Back Act means.
- 20:15Speaker 11: Well, to me, it means we're starting to take the
- 20:19Speaker 11: corporate control out of the equation because we're taking the
- 20:22Speaker 11: money out of their coffers and the money that they're
- 20:24Speaker 11: making in ways that I find very unsavory.
- 20:28Speaker 8: There is not a.
- 20:29Speaker 11: Single shift that goes by, you know, I practice urgent
- 20:33Speaker 11: care pediatrics. There's not a shift that goes by where
- 20:36Speaker 11: a patient is not telling me about a high priced
- 20:38Speaker 11: medication or a medication that they couldn't get covered in
- 20:41Speaker 11: their pharmacy or I'm not getting a call and told
- 20:43Speaker 11: that you can't prescribe x us prescribe why, Or I'm
- 20:48Speaker 11: actually in my community. There's a lot of pharmaceutical companies
- 20:51Speaker 11: in my community, and you know, they're actually very familiar
- 20:54Speaker 11: with the PBMs. You know, I meet a lot of
- 20:56Speaker 11: research scientists that are frustrated because they get a great
- 20:59Speaker 11: product and they know that it has the potential to
- 21:02Speaker 11: work and to help a patient, and then they can't
- 21:05Speaker 11: they can't get it out there because you know, the
- 21:09Speaker 11: insurance companies make what they call networks, and it restricts
- 21:12Speaker 11: where patients can go. Of course, for the whole pharmacy situation,
- 21:17Speaker 11: it's the formulary. And you know, it's absolutely repugnant to
- 21:21Speaker 11: me that these pharmacy benefit managers, the PBMs, they've been
- 21:26Speaker 11: granted the right to collect kickbacks they like to call
- 21:29Speaker 11: them rebates, but they're not going to the patients. And
- 21:31Speaker 11: we need to inform our public that part of the
- 21:33Speaker 11: problem is when you give when you give these big
- 21:37Speaker 11: fortune ten companies the right to receive kickbacks, they're going
- 21:41Speaker 11: to use it. So they collect the kickback, they put
- 21:45Speaker 11: the drug on the formulary that pays the highest kickback.
- 21:47Speaker 11: It's paid to play in America. Now the problem is
- 21:51Speaker 11: is how can they trust that they're getting the right
- 21:52Speaker 11: drug or are they just getting the best drug that
- 21:56Speaker 11: was paid to be put on the formulary with the
- 21:58Speaker 11: highest kickback? Repulsive, disgusting. What's wrong with that big white
- 22:02Speaker 11: building behind us? Congress? You know because I came here
- 22:05Speaker 11: in twenty eighteen when I discovered the kickbacks and I thought,
- 22:07Speaker 11: my gosh, they probably don't know. I'm going to trot
- 22:10Speaker 11: around and tell them and they'll be thrilled and they'll
- 22:11Speaker 11: get rid of the kickbacks right away.
- 22:13Speaker 12: Ha ha.
- 22:13Speaker 11: How did that work out? I guess when you have
- 22:16Speaker 11: a lot of money, you have a lot of power.
- 22:17Speaker 11: But it really shouldn't be about the money and the power,
- 22:20Speaker 11: like I said up there on the podium, it should
- 22:22Speaker 11: be about we the people. You can't serve two masters,
- 22:25Speaker 11: get a clue, Congress, serve we the people.
- 22:29Speaker 8: Thank you so much for being on this show. We'd
- 22:31Speaker 8: love you.
- 22:35Speaker 6: Hey.
- 22:36Speaker 18: I'm Jerem Accounts, a pharmacist, pharmacy owner, analyst.
- 22:40Speaker 6: I do a lot of stuff. I'm the executive board,
- 22:43Speaker 6: remember Putt. You know, I just do things.
- 22:45Speaker 4: You were one of the winners of the Pharmacy Pharmacy
- 22:49Speaker 4: fifty Awards.
- 22:50Speaker 8: Was it last year?
- 22:51Speaker 6: Yeah?
- 22:51Speaker 18: It was last year, and I want to thank you
- 22:54Speaker 18: all for that, especially for giving me the idea of
- 22:57Speaker 18: ordering a forty foot trophy.
- 23:00Speaker 6: Feel that I deserved it and it was worth every time.
- 23:04Speaker 4: Jeremy, we love your sense of humor, we love your tenacity,
- 23:08Speaker 4: and you you're a punch in the face kind of guy.
- 23:11Speaker 4: But the reason why you won that award is because
- 23:14Speaker 4: of the work that you do. People realize that you
- 23:16Speaker 4: are very sincere and you're a fighter, and we really
- 23:20Speaker 4: appreciate the work that you're doing through Pharmacists United for
- 23:23Speaker 4: Truth and Transparency. What did today's bipartisan come together of
- 23:27Speaker 4: our senators and state representative?
- 23:29Speaker 8: What did that mean to you?
- 23:30Speaker 18: It means everything. I mean, this is the bill that
- 23:32Speaker 18: is actually going to save pharmacies. This is how we
- 23:34Speaker 18: get things in order. You know, we've passed a bunch
- 23:37Speaker 18: of state legislation across the nation, but they ignore state
- 23:41Speaker 18: laws and the PBMs they will straight up break the
- 23:45Speaker 18: law until you force them to do something. We have
- 23:47Speaker 18: to have federal legislation, and we have to have it now,
- 23:50Speaker 18: otherwise we're going to see closures everywhere.
- 23:53Speaker 4: Hey, I want to also give a shout out to
- 23:55Speaker 4: Monique and Shannon with Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency
- 23:58Speaker 4: of all the work that they do for us and
- 24:00Speaker 4: how well did they work with you as well?
- 24:02Speaker 12: Oh yeah, they're bad asses.
- 24:04Speaker 18: We wouldn't be able to do anything without Monique and
- 24:07Speaker 18: Shannon getting in there, like just grinding all the time.
- 24:11Speaker 18: I don't know how Monique juggles us while also juggling
- 24:14Speaker 18: everything else like she has been such a great leader
- 24:17Speaker 18: in all of this.
- 24:19Speaker 8: Well, we appreciate you being on the PBM Reform podcast.
- 24:21Speaker 8: Thank you so much.
- 24:22Speaker 6: Hey always, brother.
- 24:28Speaker 4: Greg Rybold is here from APCI. He has a special message.
- 24:32Speaker 4: That's why we're jumping in right out of the gate
- 24:34Speaker 4: with a message from greg Rybold.
- 24:37Speaker 8: How are you, my brother. It's so good to see you, Todd, so.
- 24:40Speaker 7: Good to see you as well. Appreciate you having me on.
- 24:44Speaker 7: You know, I think I was just telling you a
- 24:46Speaker 7: few minutes ago it was a big fan of the
- 24:49Speaker 7: episode you guys released last week. But you know, just
- 24:51Speaker 7: great discussions on the IRA and you know, and implementation.
- 24:57Speaker 7: You know what's going on in Medica care with pricing
- 25:01Speaker 7: and anyways, grip, So thank you so much.
- 25:04Speaker 4: Yeah, so that's what this is all about. If you're listening,
- 25:06Speaker 4: you think you have something to share about our profession.
- 25:11Speaker 6: I mean, this is it.
- 25:11Speaker 4: We talk about what's happening this week in pharmacy. It's
- 25:15Speaker 4: we're torks in and so, hey, you and I were
- 25:20Speaker 4: part of something pretty special last week on Thursday, the
- 25:23Speaker 4: Pharmacist Fight Back Act. It was a convergence of twenty
- 25:28Speaker 4: five thirty different organizations and state organizations and politicians and
- 25:33Speaker 4: it was an amazing time. Give our Torques listeners a
- 25:37Speaker 4: rundown what's going on?
- 25:39Speaker 8: Like, what is this?
- 25:40Speaker 12: What is the act?
- 25:41Speaker 8: What happens next?
- 25:43Speaker 6: Yes?
- 25:43Speaker 7: Absolutely, and so yeah, so we had well, I think
- 25:46Speaker 7: over fifty five pharmacists come in from don't quote me
- 25:49Speaker 7: on this, you know, twenty twenty one states on really
- 25:52Speaker 7: short notice for the reintroduction of the Pharmacists Fight Back Act.
- 25:56Speaker 7: And we had pharmacists from cities, from small towns, from
- 26:00Speaker 7: the East coast, West coast, the South, and they all
- 26:04Speaker 7: sort of converged on DC on incredibly short notice for
- 26:09Speaker 7: the reintroduction of Pharmacists Fight Back Act because you know, frankly,
- 26:12Speaker 7: this is it's just that important and so what we
- 26:14Speaker 7: saw is, you know, in twenty twenty four, the Pharmacists
- 26:18Speaker 7: Fight Back Act was introduced and really I think surprised
- 26:22Speaker 7: a lot of people. Right, maybe it was a sleeper bill,
- 26:24Speaker 7: but it got well over fifty I think it had
- 26:27Speaker 7: around fifty six to fifty eight co sponsors in twenty
- 26:31Speaker 7: twenty four, and it was reintroduced just last week as
- 26:35Speaker 7: two separate bills. And so the first bill, HR. Sixty
- 26:39Speaker 7: six nine was introduced by Congressman Auchincloss and Harshbarger, who
- 26:45Speaker 7: is who you know obviously every day was represent of
- 26:47Speaker 7: Harsbarger is a pharmacist as well, and so that you know,
- 26:51Speaker 7: that's that's really important that that she was willing to
- 26:53Speaker 7: be a co lead. That bill acts in Medicare and
- 26:56Speaker 7: in Medicaid managed care plans. And then the second bill
- 27:00Speaker 7: was introduced by representatives of Aucking Class and Comer, and
- 27:05Speaker 7: Comer is the chairman of Oversight. That bill acts in
- 27:08Speaker 7: the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and that bill will
- 27:11Speaker 7: be assigned to the Oversight Committee. And like cannot stress,
- 27:16Speaker 7: like how unbelievable it is to have the chairman of
- 27:20Speaker 7: the Committee of Jurisdiction willing to be a co lead
- 27:25Speaker 7: on Pharmacists Fight Back Act, right. I mean, you know,
- 27:28Speaker 7: from my perspective, it's just such a such a such
- 27:30Speaker 7: a powerful message and the import of this really can't
- 27:34Speaker 7: be overstated. It is a really big deal. And both
- 27:38Speaker 7: of these bills, you know, there's there's some technical differences,
- 27:41Speaker 7: but but in broad strokes, here's what these bills do.
- 27:45Speaker 7: They take away the ability of PBMs to essentially set,
- 27:50Speaker 7: manipulate and fix drug prices in these large federal healthcare programs.
- 27:55Speaker 7: And these are big ones, right. Met A Care Party
- 27:57Speaker 7: obviously is is you know, probably the biggest sscription drug
- 28:00Speaker 7: program in the country. Federal employee health benefits program is
- 28:05Speaker 7: the largest self funded employer plan in the country. So
- 28:07Speaker 7: these are massive federal programs along with Medicaid managed care,
- 28:13Speaker 7: and so this is going to take away the ability
- 28:15Speaker 7: of pdms as government contractors to exploit and manipulate drug crisis,
- 28:21Speaker 7: and it moves to a market based model, a market
- 28:24Speaker 7: based model using national average drug acquisition costs plus four
- 28:27Speaker 7: percent up to fifty dollars, as well as a dispensing
- 28:31Speaker 7: feed that's in line with state Medicaid feed service dispensing
- 28:35Speaker 7: FED and so huge, right, No, more PBM manipulating drug prices.
- 28:40Speaker 7: It also ends patients steering to PBM owned pharmacies, prohibits
- 28:46Speaker 7: fees and clawbacks and pricing manipulations that way, and does
- 28:50Speaker 7: another really powerful thing that's very much in line with
- 28:53Speaker 7: what President Trump tried to do in his first term
- 28:56Speaker 7: with the rebate rule in twenty twenty. But it looks
- 28:59Speaker 7: to deuce drug costs at the counter for patients in
- 29:02Speaker 7: these federal plans by mandating the PBMs share all discounts
- 29:07Speaker 7: and rebates and that those are calculated into patient cost share.
- 29:11Speaker 7: And so this is going to align drug prices, remove
- 29:15Speaker 7: drug pricing variability, ensure that retail pharmacies that aren't affiliated
- 29:20Speaker 7: with PBMs are reimbursed fairly, while also ending massive PBM
- 29:25Speaker 7: markups at their own affiliated pharmacies, and then prohibit the
- 29:29Speaker 7: self interested steer. All right, so that's a lot.
- 29:34Speaker 4: We are going to drop your email address. You're if
- 29:37Speaker 4: you're looking on your screen, you're going to see Greg's
- 29:40Speaker 4: email address over at APCI. Reach out to Greg, ask
- 29:45Speaker 4: him how to help. This is a collective. If we
- 29:50Speaker 4: all help a little bit, this is going to go crazy.
- 29:52Speaker 4: So this is the kind it's the kind of those
- 29:55Speaker 4: times as we let's celebrate the holidays. Let's let's relax.
- 30:00Speaker 4: I'm not done Christmas shopping. I don't think you are.
- 30:03Speaker 4: Your internet and power. Your internet went down, My power
- 30:07Speaker 4: went down. It's disrupted this recording twice. I mean, there's
- 30:12Speaker 4: fighting forces against us in multiple fronts. Even if you
- 30:16Speaker 4: pray for even if you pray for PBM reform, at
- 30:19Speaker 4: least you do something but literally, reach out to your
- 30:23Speaker 4: state representatives. If you're listening right now, invite them in
- 30:27Speaker 4: the new year. Say hey, listen, make a commitment in
- 30:30Speaker 4: the first quarter of twenty twenty six to invite a
- 30:36Speaker 4: state representative to your pharmacy, your long term care pharmacy,
- 30:41Speaker 4: your specialty pharmacy, your community independently owned pharmacy, your giant eagle,
- 30:47Speaker 4: your publics. Invite your state representative to your operations and
- 30:52Speaker 4: explain to them because they do not understand your white coat.
- 30:57Speaker 8: You count pills. That's all they're thinking about.
- 30:59Speaker 4: Now them your automation, show them your have them sign
- 31:03Speaker 4: a non disclosure form or whatever that form is that
- 31:07Speaker 4: you can give tours. Make sure you do that as
- 31:09Speaker 4: a lawyer, right Greg, That's it, and then tour them,
- 31:13Speaker 4: tore them through your pharmacy and tell the story.
- 31:16Speaker 8: Here's what we do.
- 31:18Speaker 4: You don't have to be super grandular. Here's what we
- 31:20Speaker 4: do as a pharmacy operation. Here's how that impacts patient health.
- 31:25Speaker 4: Here are issues that can come up with medication management.
- 31:29Speaker 4: Here are issues that can come up with billing and
- 31:31Speaker 4: prior authorization. Sticky tape that doesn't make any sense whatsoever
- 31:34Speaker 4: other than just to deny the claim. You know, tell
- 31:38Speaker 4: the story and when the visualization comes to their minds,
- 31:43Speaker 4: that kind of lights this on fire so that we
- 31:45Speaker 4: can keep this going into twenty twenty six.
- 31:49Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think i'd look, I think that's great advice, Todd.
- 31:52Speaker 7: You know, you know, invite your US representative for your
- 31:56Speaker 7: state to the pharmacy and at the state level, you know,
- 31:59Speaker 7: invite your stay representative. What we have seen is so
- 32:02Speaker 7: many pharmacy champions, you know, legislators at the state level
- 32:06Speaker 7: and federal level who visited pharmacies and and you know,
- 32:11Speaker 7: spend thirty minutes an hour sometimes sure it's fifteen minutes
- 32:15Speaker 7: in a pharmacy and walked out determined to help fight,
- 32:19Speaker 7: you know, to help fight for pharmacy. And like that's
- 32:22Speaker 7: how that is how pharmacy champions are made, and so right,
- 32:25Speaker 7: there's no there's if there is a secret sauce, it's
- 32:28Speaker 7: getting it's getting legislators into your pharmacy, showing them what
- 32:32Speaker 7: you do, showing them how you care for people, and
- 32:35Speaker 7: showing them what your business and profession is up against
- 32:39Speaker 7: by you know, self self interested, conflicted, large pharmacy benefit
- 32:43Speaker 7: managers and you know they're and they're unfair practices that
- 32:46Speaker 7: they engage in.
- 32:47Speaker 4: So absolutely all right, well, where you probably won't talk
- 32:53Speaker 4: until after Santa comes, and I wish you a very
- 32:58Speaker 4: merry Christmas and a very high time with your family.
- 33:01Speaker 8: Get some rest.
- 33:01Speaker 4: I am hypocritical in saying that, because I like I
- 33:05Speaker 4: love to work, so I'm sure that you're gonna sneak
- 33:08Speaker 4: sneak an email in our two because it's just in
- 33:11Speaker 4: our blood to do so.
- 33:12Speaker 8: But I appreciate your friendship.
- 33:15Speaker 4: I appreciate the support that you guys have given to
- 33:18Speaker 4: us to get more news out and get more information out.
- 33:21Speaker 8: You're invited back on twerks. You can tworx with me
- 33:25Speaker 8: as much as you want, but I don't really want
- 33:26Speaker 8: to watch you tworks to tell you the truth, Greg.
- 33:29Speaker 7: That wouldn't be good for anybody, Todd, That wouldn't be
- 33:31Speaker 7: good for anybody. But man, I appreciate being.
- 33:33Speaker 8: On the Pharmacist Fight Back Act. Bill strengthens the entire
- 33:39Speaker 8: healthcare system, said APCI CEO Tim Hammerck. And this is
- 33:46Speaker 8: the part that gets me.
- 33:47Speaker 4: When patients pay less and federal programs operate more efficiently,
- 33:53Speaker 4: every tax payer benefits.
- 33:56Speaker 8: I hate taxes, Greg, I hate taxes.
- 33:59Speaker 4: I hate and his philosophy and what Tim said is
- 34:04Speaker 4: literally the truth. And then by the way, that was
- 34:07Speaker 4: a nonpartisan quote that was like, it's a machine. It
- 34:12Speaker 4: works just like computers, just like a program, just like
- 34:15Speaker 4: a factory. If you abuse the system, you weaken the system,
- 34:21Speaker 4: it weakens the entire nation.
- 34:23Speaker 8: So this is really to me.
- 34:25Speaker 4: This the reason why I put so much time and
- 34:27Speaker 4: effort into our network and into our podcasts is because
- 34:30Speaker 4: I know that this is impacting people's lives based on
- 34:33Speaker 4: us supporting You are the professional, you pharmacist, and you
- 34:38Speaker 4: pharmacy operator, and you PBM builder. These brand new PBMs
- 34:44Speaker 4: that are being built that are going to be the
- 34:46Speaker 4: future of how PBMs run because the destruction of the
- 34:51Speaker 4: of the Grandpa system that was you know, decrepit and
- 34:55Speaker 4: built for only one reason. That's coming down finally, and
- 35:00Speaker 4: we're building a brand new system and it's actually leading
- 35:05Speaker 4: more with pharmacists because pharmacists will be doing less dispensing
- 35:09Speaker 4: of an actual medication and really digging into disease state management.
- 35:13Speaker 7: Yeah, there's so much, there's so much that pharmacists can
- 35:16Speaker 7: be doing. But I'm glad you read that quote. I
- 35:18Speaker 7: think you know. I think Tim absolutely Center punched it.
- 35:21Speaker 7: And the reality is, you know, right now, big PBMs
- 35:24Speaker 7: are using their position as government contractors right who had
- 35:30Speaker 7: the trust of the federal government, and they're using that
- 35:32Speaker 7: position to overcharge federal beneficiaries, federal patients, including senior citizens,
- 35:38Speaker 7: while at the same time under reimbursing non affiliate retail
- 35:42Speaker 7: pharmacies and then marking medications up at their pharmacies thousands
- 35:47Speaker 7: and thousands of percent. And this is going to reduce
- 35:51Speaker 7: costs and lead to increased efficiencies, improved access to care,
- 35:56Speaker 7: and sustainability for pharmacies, all while saving tax player's money.
- 36:00Speaker 7: I'm glad you I'm glad you point it out. I
- 36:02Speaker 7: think Tim Center punched it and just can't can't thank
- 36:05Speaker 7: you Ton enough for all the work you're doing and
- 36:07Speaker 7: the attention you're bringing to the role of pharmacists play
- 36:10Speaker 7: just in the broader healthcare system.
- 36:11Speaker 12: That's awesome.
- 36:13Speaker 8: Oh my gosh, Don Butterfield, God bless her heart. Up
- 36:16Speaker 8: from Florida. But she looked warmer than me.
- 36:19Speaker 4: There's a picture of us out on social I'm gonna
- 36:23Speaker 4: post it on LinkedIn, and and she's just like whatever,
- 36:26Speaker 4: you know, And I'm like, I'm so free, I'm so cold.
- 36:32Speaker 7: Don was ready. I think Don was. Don came prepared
- 36:34Speaker 7: as she always does. I think she was warmer, you know,
- 36:37Speaker 7: warmer than us, all.
- 36:39Speaker 8: Fired up.
- 36:41Speaker 7: Yeah, she was right. And you know, one of the
- 36:43Speaker 7: things that I think may awesome for me, makes today
- 36:46Speaker 7: so special is that you know, we have we have
- 36:50Speaker 7: people pharmacists as well as others like doctor Marion mass Bit,
- 36:54Speaker 7: Bill Schmidt Nick, but we have pharmacists and folks from
- 36:57Speaker 7: pharmacy organizations from all over the country who've been fighting
- 36:59Speaker 7: the fight for so long and fighting big fights and
- 37:04Speaker 7: in so many places winning right and you know, fighting
- 37:08Speaker 7: big fights and winning those fights in their respective states.
- 37:12Speaker 7: And to come here and for them to be here
- 37:15Speaker 7: today for the reintroduction, for the beginning of this fight
- 37:19Speaker 7: just means the world when you think of states with
- 37:22Speaker 7: leaders in like, you know, Kentucky with Ben Mudd, Arkansas,
- 37:26Speaker 7: John Vinson, Louisiana, right, Randall Johnson, we had hot you know,
- 37:31Speaker 7: several board members and Monique Whitney, you know, Don Butterfield,
- 37:35Speaker 7: who's who's just been fighting this fight, you know, forever
- 37:38Speaker 7: in Florida, and.
- 37:39Speaker 8: So King's just so nicky.
- 37:41Speaker 7: Bryant not here, Bryan right, oh my god, right, who's
- 37:44Speaker 7: just been part of so many big wins in Georgia,
- 37:48Speaker 7: and that Alabama had a huge year this year. And
- 37:50Speaker 7: so to see people who've won in their respective states
- 37:54Speaker 7: take the time to come up to d C to
- 37:58Speaker 7: help launch and begin this fight. Man, that's that's a
- 38:02Speaker 7: big deal. And I hope folks around the country take note.
- 38:06Speaker 7: And you know, and my ask would be for pharmacists.
- 38:08Speaker 7: You know, if you're listening to this and watching this, boy,
- 38:14Speaker 7: I hope you take this opportunity to share this with
- 38:17Speaker 7: other pharmacists and to share this with your US representatives,
- 38:21Speaker 7: even your US senators. Right, this is the beginning. This
- 38:23Speaker 7: was a big day for pharmacy. This was a special
- 38:26Speaker 7: day for pharmacy. Right. For years, pharmacists were kind of told, hey,
- 38:30Speaker 7: you know there's not necessarily an appetite for reimbursement reform,
- 38:33Speaker 7: and you know and strong, strong, aggressive and PBM reform,
- 38:38Speaker 7: and and you know, here we are right in the
- 38:41Speaker 7: triangle outside the you know, the US capital, and we
- 38:45Speaker 7: are beginning this fight. And so my ask to pharmacists
- 38:47Speaker 7: would be get involved, be a part of this, and
- 38:51Speaker 7: let's pass let's pass these dang bills. And you know
- 38:54Speaker 7: the first step to that is to share this with
- 38:57Speaker 7: your US representatives and pharmacists who you think would be
- 39:01Speaker 7: assets and to help get involved in this fight.
- 39:06Speaker 8: Greg, all right, how do how do listeners get a
- 39:10Speaker 8: hold of you?
- 39:10Speaker 4: Do you want them going to LinkedIn? Do you want
- 39:12Speaker 4: them to find you some other way? How to how
- 39:15Speaker 4: do people connect with you?
- 39:16Speaker 7: Yeah? Absolutely right. So so you know I am on
- 39:20Speaker 7: I'm on X, so easy to find on X and
- 39:23Speaker 7: also on LinkedIn. You know, my email is Greg rt
- 39:27Speaker 7: A p C I n E t dot com. So
- 39:30Speaker 7: that's Greg r at A p C I net dot com, Todd.
- 39:33Speaker 7: I don't know if there's a way we can we
- 39:34Speaker 7: can link that somehow, but yeah, but if there's pharmacists
- 39:39Speaker 7: who want to get involved in this, I absolutely want
- 39:42Speaker 7: to want to hear from them, and you know, this
- 39:45Speaker 7: is again a special day. So glad that you could
- 39:48Speaker 7: be here to kind of help capture it and be
- 39:50Speaker 7: a part of it, because you've been. You know, you've been,
- 39:52Speaker 7: you've been been, you know, one of the originals, Todd
- 39:55Speaker 7: and in terms of bringing attention to this fight in
- 39:58Speaker 7: a massive way. So and that's so much for you
- 40:00Speaker 7: to be here today as well. But this is the beginning,
- 40:03Speaker 7: It is not the end. Special day, but we have
- 40:06Speaker 7: to build on all right.
- 40:08Speaker 4: Listeners, thank you so much for listening to this special
- 40:10Speaker 4: episode of the PBM Reform Podcast, brought to you my APCI.
- 40:16Speaker 4: Without them, we could not do this. I could not
- 40:19Speaker 4: be here in Washington, d C. Without you guys, So
- 40:22Speaker 4: thank you for sponsoring Tyler. A shout out to Tyler.
- 40:25Speaker 8: Are cold?
- 40:26Speaker 4: She stand over there, ty Way, Yeah, she's standing over there.
- 40:30Speaker 4: She's just as cold as we are. Did a great
- 40:33Speaker 4: job today, so shout out to you too. But a
- 40:36Speaker 4: lot of work to do twenty twenty six. We're coming
- 40:38Speaker 4: out of twenty twenty five like fighting lions, and we're
- 40:42Speaker 4: going to be entering in with a lot of momentum,
- 40:45Speaker 4: and it's time to get your politicians involved. And educate them,
- 40:49Speaker 4: let them listen to themselves and that this was their people.
- 40:54Speaker 4: This podcast is all about their people and their work
- 40:57Speaker 4: and how they're changing, coming together as the loving mom
- 41:01Speaker 4: and dad that we need to stop bickering and stop
- 41:05Speaker 4: fighting and get things done for us.
- 41:07Speaker 8: But Greg, thank you so much.
- 41:09Speaker 7: Thank you, Chud,