June 3, 2011 
The Moran bill in Kansas is another example of localized politics for independent pharmacies trying to legislate competition rather than find ways to differentiate their business. I’ve talked about this before in:
- Who’s killing independent pharmacies?
- Splitting up CVS Caremark is Stupid…Just learn to compete.
- House Bill 458 in MO
- A World Without PBMs
This is focused (I believe) on the whole issue of limited networks and preferred networks as you can see from the NCPA letter about Maintenance Choice. They throw everything but the kitchen sink at this model…why? Because it works. Maintenance Choice is saving consumers money and payers money. And, it’s moving market share to CVS stores.
This is the future. This is what Walmart is focused on. This is what Restat is focused on. OptumRx (Prescription Solutions) just launched their limited network. Humana is leveraging this in Medicare with Walmart.
At the end of the day, isn’t it the payer’s option to decide how to design a benefit plan to offers a clinically effective solution at the lowest cost posible?
Given that there are way too many pharmacies in the US today, someone (unfortunately) has to lose. That is reality. Based on the fact that there are more than 5x as many pharmacies as McDonalds in the US, we’re saturated.
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
You hit the nail on the head, George. The real motivation of NCPA’s legislative push is to shield pharmacy profits. NCPA is merely doing what they are supposed to do–representing the interests of their members.