NCPA creates TRUST
By HME News Staff
Updated 9:41 AM CDT, Mon October 16, 2023
ORLANDO, Fla. – The National Community Pharmacists Association is creating a limited liability company called TRUST LLC to investigate and, when appropriate, litigate or arbitrate on behalf of community pharmacies to recover pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration fees.
The NCPA believes DIR fees were assessed by the PBMs and insurance plans in violation of federal antitrust law and state contract laws.
“PBMs shouldn't be able to make assessing junk DIR fees against competing pharmacies a multi-billion dollar cottage industry that puts their competition out of business and compromises patient care,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “It’s completely anti-competitive, and we’re fighting back.”
It’s the second major legal effort announced in the past several weeks: In September, a class-action lawsuit against CVS Health, CVS Caremark and Aetna was brought by an independent pharmacist from Iowa who is a member of NCPA.
TRUST LLC has retained the law firms of Berger Montague PC, Cohen & Gresser LLP, and Baker Donelson to lead the litigation. Berger Montague and Cohen & Gresser are the firms that filed the class-action lawsuit against CVS Health in federal court last month.
“Community pharmacists are indispensable providers of health care in communities across the United States,” said Katie Funk, a partner with Baker Donelson. “We look forward to working with NCPA to expose the unconscionable PBM practices that are driving up costs, eliminating patient choice, and driving community pharmacies out of business.”
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