LITTLE ROCK, AR – Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation earlier this month that would deny permits to pharmacies owned by pharmacy benefit managers. The law (HB 1150) goes into effective Jan. 1, 2026. The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), which represents the country’s independent pharmacies, supported the Arkansas Pharmacists Association’s leadership on HB 1150 as it moved through the legislative process.
APA is the voice of Arkansas pharmacists and has worked hard to advance HB 1150 and other PBM reform efforts. NCPA has also persistently advocated that state and federal policymakers rein in the conflicts of interest and anticompetitive business practices that arise with PBMs. These practices include contract terms that restrict competitors’ access to patients, massive clawbacks, steering patients away from competing community pharmacies, below-cost reimbursements, and punitive audit practices. Prohibiting PBM ownership of pharmacies via HB 1150 would put an end to these tactics and promote Arkansans’ access to quality pharmacy care.
“Today is a new day in Arkansas for our patients as the fox will no longer guard the henhouse,” said John Vinson, APA’s chief executive officer. “This bipartisan legislation passed overwhelmingly to protect public health and safety for Arkansans. HB 1150 will stop the abusive self-dealing at PBM affiliated pharmacies that raises prescription drug prices and limits patient access. The pharmacists of Arkansas are very grateful for a courageous legislature and Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. We also thank Attorney General Tim Griffin for his support.”
“Time and time again, PBMs have proven themselves to be resistant to transparency and reform,” said Anne Cassity, NCPA’s senior vice president of Government Affairs. “HB 1150 is a structural change that gets to the heart of the problem – the conflicts of interest inherent in vertical integration that PBMs have been manipulating to the detriment of patients, taxpayers, and pharmacies. We applaud HB 1150 and are eager to see its provisions implemented in Arkansas and, ideally, throughout the country.”
