NCPA and Arkansas Pharmacists Join Legal Fight to Preserve Law Barring Companies from Operating PBMs and Pharmacies in the State
Landmark law eliminates obvious conflict of interest that leads to PBMs steering patients and rigging reimbursements for their own pharmacies
Alexandria, Va., Nov. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association (APA) today filed a legal brief in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals defending a landmark Arkansas law blocking companies from operating a pharmacy benefit manager and a pharmacy in the state simultaneously.
The case revolves around a state law (Act 624) passed earlier this year blocking PBMs in Arkansas from also operating pharmacies in the state. It is aimed at removing the egregious conflict of interest that arises when PBMs — that also operate pharmacies — are incentivized to steer patients away from smaller competitors to their own pharmacies, and to reimburse their own pharmacies higher rates than their competitors receive. Express Scripts, Inc., which is one of the largest PBMs and mail-order pharmacies in the world, is suing Arkansas to have the law overturned.
“The law protects patients by simply saying a business can either be a licensed PBM or a licensed pharmacy — but not both,” said Arkansas Pharmacists Association CEO John Vinson. “PBMs are forcing our most vulnerable Arkansans — including those battling cancer — to use pharmacies owned by or affiliated with the PBMs, and in many cases forcing them to overpay with massive markups for the medications they depend on. This blatant conflict of interest leads to dangerous delays in treatment that threaten patients’ health and safety.”
NCPA, which represents nearly 19,000 independent pharmacies across the country, has been active in Arkansas and many other states supporting and defending laws that protect patient access to the pharmacies of their choice.
“The Arkansas law is a model for the country,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. “Vertical integration has allowed a handful of giant corporations to control patients and create massive disadvantages for their competition. They deny patients the ability to choose their own health care providers, and they put a lot of small, independent pharmacies out of business, creating pharmacy deserts. The Arkansas law eliminates the obvious conflict of interest at the heart of the problem.”
For more information about NCPA, please visit www.ncpa.org. For more information about the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, please visit www.aarx.org.
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Andie Pivarunas National Community Pharmacists Association 703-600-1174 andrea.pivarunas@ncpa.org
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