In comments released yesterday, NCPA urged the Trump administration to ensure any tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector are carefully tailored to avoid further strain on patients and independently owned community and long-term care pharmacies. In comments to the Department of Commerce, Steve Postal, JD, NCPA senior director of policy and regulatory affairs, said pharmacies are "unable to pass these increased costs to patients, as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) determine out-of-pocket costs for patients and dictate pharmacy reimbursement for the dispensing of medications."
"Should pharmaceutical tariffs be enacted, it is imperative that the administration require PBMs to adjust reimbursements to pharmacies within 24 hours of price increases to account for increased drug acquisition costs should tariffs go into effect," he wrote.
