(from l-r) Marc Ost, Rick Seipp, Victoria Elliott, Rob Frankil, Jill McCormack
The Pharmacy Coalition had a big day in Harrisburg on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Marc Ost and I started by attending fundraisers with Senators Capelletti and Ward, and we got lots of personal time with them.
Next up was an hour with Senator Hughes, along with Ron Raymond, David Hyman, Rebecca Swanson, Rick Seipp from Value Drug, and Dennis Giorno and Jill McCormack from the chains.
Later in the afternoon we met with Auditor General Defoor.
The big event was our presentation with the Pharmacy Caucus Senators, led by Senators Tartaglione, Ward, and Boscola. Some other senators and staffers were also in attendance. Presenting for the PA Pharmacy Coalition were Victoria Elliott from PPA, Rick Seipp from Value Drug, Jill McCormack from NACDS and PACDS, Marc Ost, and myself.
The reason for the hearing was to bring to light the problems with Act 77 enforcement with PID, the problems with MCO reimbursement (specifically with Keystone First/Caritas in the Philly area), and discuss the Rite Aid closures and the access problems that will be coming soon for their patients.
The Senators heard us loud and clear. All the problems community pharmacies are facing come down to poor reimbursement. As far as Medicaid goes and Keystone First, Senator Tartaglione called for a hearing with DHS to find out how and why they approve and allow such poor reimbursement from them. Hopefully this hearing will happen soon. The long range goal is for PA to adopt a single PBM model for Medicaid., like Ohio did. Jill McCormack presented lots of data from Ohio and other states that have gone this route, and showed not only savings for the program, but better reimbursement for pharmacies.
Victoria Elliott discussed the big picture of the pharmacy landscape in PA, Jill McCormack discussed what other states are doing, Rick Seipp highlighted the problems of Act 77 and the fixes needed, Marc Ost discussed how pharmacies are in the position of choosing to fill or not fill prescriptions that lose money, and I discussed Medicaid, Keystone First, and the access problems coming due to Rite Aid closures and the pharmacy deserts.
At the meeting with Auditor General Defoor, it was concluded that we need to meet with Attorney General Dave Sunday and Defoor together to discuss how to proceed with DHS and the non-enforcement of the contract between DHS and the MCOs (ie-poor reimbursement from Keystone First). This meeting will be in the works.
Special thanks to Ron Raymond and David Hyman for pulling strings to set up these meetings. Also, special thanks to Jill and Dennis for adding flavor for what is happening in other states. Having all community pharmacies represented (except CVS) made a big difference, as we all sent the same message. The problems in pharmacy happening right now are affecting all of us…..just look at Rite Aid.
– Rob Frankil, E.D.
