More Product Facings... More Profit! It’s that Simple!

Variety Panel

An all-steel merchandiser with con�nuous horizontal channels and no upright interrup�ons; hooks can be placed over panel seams! High density will drama�cally increase product facings by 17 % or more, which equals increased profit in the same footprint!

Allied Panel

Features a short insert hook welded directly to the panel, elimina�ng the need for insert brackets. Panels easily lock onto exis�ng uprights, crea�ng a clean, flush appearance. The panel can be extended beyond the gondola height, crea�ng addi�onal merchandising space.

Insert Panel

Replaces torn and inefficient pegboard. Simply remove pegboard and insert Uniweb into exis�ng uprights, and use exis�ng shelving.

Install and Use

Simply a�ach brackets and insert panel into exis�ng uprights. Hooks fit in without �l�ng and slide horizontally, allowing merchandising directly under shelves or flexibility in adjus�ng product without disturbing products.

A bill seeking to prevent PBMs from steering patients to their own pharmacies was passed by large margins in both state chambers last year, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the legislation, SB 524, saying it “lacked clarity.”

“I know that there’s going to be another push there,” said Cassity.

Cassity said she expects activity around PBM reform in several other states as well in 2023, including, potentially, Florida, which has been stubbornly resistant to PBM reform. She noted that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last year that includes more oversight of PBMs.

In a statement on the Florida state government website, Katie Scanlon, senior director of pharmacy administration at Publix Super Markets, was among those who spoke out in favor of the initiative.

“We appreciate Gov. DeSantis’ leadership in championing the initiative for lower prescription drug costs for Floridians,” Scanlon said. “It is a critical step in the right direction to ensure our residents and customers have access to their medications at the lowest price available to all, dispensed from their community pharmacist of choice.”

Much of DeSantis’ proposal reads like a wish list for retail pharmacy, calling for an end to steering of patients by PBMs to their own affiliated pharmacies, prohibiting mandatory mail-order prescription fulfillment, prohibiting “clawbacks,” or direct and indirect renumeration (DIR) fees on pharmacies for a variety of reasons and calling for greater transparency on the part of PBMs.

Federal Action On PBM Reform

The U.S. Congress has also expressed bipartisan interest in addressing PBM reform, Krese pointed out. “Legislators realize that they’re going to be held accountable as to whether they could do things to improve their constituents’ way of life, and certainly their healthcare and their finances all figure into that,” said Krese. “PBM reform is a great way to get those things done.”

Last year Reps. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) introduced the Fair Care Act of 2022, which included several provisions that would have addressed PBM pricing practices, including charging retroactive fees to pharmacies and requiring the U.S. Comptroller General to conduct a study on the role of PBMs in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has long advocated for PBM pricing transparency, last year joined with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to introduce S.4293, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022, which the two said “sought to ban deceptive unfair pricing schemes, prohibit arbitrary claw backs of payments made to pharmacies, and require PBMs to report to the Federal Trade Commission how much money they make through spread pricing and pharmacy fees.”

The legislation won the support of the numerous industry trade groups, including NCPA, the American Pharmacists Association, the American Pharmacy Cooperative and the Iowa Pharmacy Association, plus some retail pharmacy operators, including Hy-Vee and Hartig Drug.

“That bill did gain a lot of traction, and we’re hoping to get it reintroduced, or something very similar reintroduced,” said Cassity. “Anything that brings transparency, whether it’s in the commercial market or in the public market, is extraordinarily important.”

While the Grassley-Cantwell bill focused on transparency for commercial insurers, NCPA is also hoping to see more action this year around Medicare Part D reforms as well. In 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule related to Medicare Part D for contract year 2024, which requires Part D plans to include all DIR fees at the point of sale.

Cassity said more reforms around Part D need to be introduced.

“We’re going to be focusing on a bigger Part D reform package, including additional DIR reforms, but also addressing things like patient steering,” she said.

Cassity said there’s also industry concern that some PBMs are reimbursing their own or affiliate pharmacies at higher rates, which NCPA would like to see addressed in Part D reform.

“Reforms in public, taxpayer-funded programs are extraordinarily important, to make sure they’re fair, to make sure they’re transparent, and to make sure that beneficiaries get the access that they need and deserve,” said Cassity.

CMS has limitations on how much it can do with PBM reform, she said, which means that the kinds of reforms sought by NCPA may need to come from Congress.

Another issue on NCPA’s agenda for 2023 is a recent contract for TRICARE, the government health insurance program for uniformed service members, their families, National Guard and Reserve members and their families, retirees and their families, survivors and certain former spouses.

Thousands of pharmacies were excluded from the network because of the extraordinarily low reimbursements that were offered by Express Scripts, which is administering the pharmacy program for the Department of Defense, Cassity said. “There’s been a lot of interest in this in Congress, and some concerns,” she said. “We’re hoping potentially for some oversight hearings.”

The incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), has been very vocal about the contract, Cassity said. “That’s not a bad person to have on your side when you’re addressing this issue.”

She also said the industry also has other pharmacy champions who have assumed more important roles in the House, including Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. “She’s been a huge proponent of pharmacies, and not just pharmacies, but patient access to pharmacies,” said Cassity.

In addition, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) is the new chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who Cassity said has been “really engaged” in pharmacy issues. As the ranking member last year, he held a roundtable to discuss PBM reforms, she said.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has also been a leading advocate for retail pharmacy, she said. In January of this year, he praised CMS for outlining the timeline and mechanisms for Medicare drug price negotiation policies.

“I think we’re teed up pretty well,” said Cassity. “It just depends on what Congress decides to do [in 2023] and what they can get done.”