Ohioans are struggling with drug access as a key to pharmacies

When the Walgreens on Hoover Avenue in Dayton closed in April, patients like Chanel Maston had to figure out where else to get their prescriptions.

“It’s just sad. It’s crazy. They’re shutting everything down here,” Maston said.

Walgreens announced in April that the Westwood location in West Dayton will close, after announcing 150 closings last year.

Walgreens said the Westwood area’s decline in foot traffic is leading to an unstable business performance.

“When faced with the difficult decision to close a location, there are a number of factors considered, including our retail location, the strength of the local market, and changes in the shopping habits of our patients and customers. us, among other reasons,” a statement from Walgreens read.

The closure of West Dayton comes amid hundreds of other drug stores that have closed around the country in the past year. In the past two years, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens have closed more than 1,500 stores nationwide.

This year, Rite Aid closed nine stores in Ohio, after it filed for fiscal 2023. A Rite Aid spokeswoman said the company is constantly reviewing its store space to ensure it work well.

“In terms of council-controlled operations, we have informed the Council of some underperforming stores that we are closing to reduce rental costs and strengthen overall financial performance,” they said.

Access to pharmacy

In West Dayton, the nearest Walgreens is a 15-minute drive and an hour’s drive away.

CVS Pharmacy and a local drugstore, Ziks Pharmacy, are nearby, but some customers say it’s not as cheap as Walgreens because of their insurance network.

Antonio Ciaccia runs 46brooklyn Research, an Ohio-based nonprofit that focuses on drug price data. He said this closure affects the community a lot.

“It’s not just the loss of space and the difficulty of access. For those who have transportation problems, it can mean they can’t get their medicine,” Ciaccia said.

Businesses in the pharmaceutical industry – from pharmacies to insurance companies to drug manufacturers – are grappling with rising prescription drug prices, tightening insurance payments and data less and less.

David Burke, Executive Director of the Ohio Pharmacy Association, charges high charges from third-party companies that manage drug benefits for insurance companies.

“It’s all supposed to be done in the name of cheapness. But since this has been going on, drug prices have skyrocketed,” Burke said. Insurance costs for pharmacy benefits have skyrocketed. So having The middle man only increased the cost.”

But pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, say they are not to blame. Their job is to negotiate prices and payments between drug manufacturers, pharmacies and insurance companies. They also create lists of prescription drugs, called formularies, which determine which drugs are covered by insurance.

Sean Stephenson of the lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, said drug prices were set by manufacturers. He said PBMs advocate for lower costs to save money for patients and insurance companies.

“PBMs represent only $0.06 of the total drug spend on a prescription drug,” Stephenson said. We are the only institution that works to reduce costs at the end of the day, for the benefit of the patient. ”

By 2021, Ohio’s Medicaid program — which spends more than $3 billion a year on prescriptions — has been transferred to a state-run PBM. State Attorney General Dave Yost alleged that one of the pharmacy benefit managers billed the Ohio Department of Medicaid for the services it provided, and the PBM agreed to settle with the state.

“It’s very difficult to run a pharmacy when you rely so heavily on PBMs,” Ciaccia said. “PBMs and health insurance companies are not working to pay pharmacies commensurate with their value to the patient.”

A choice for patients

Ziks Pharmacy is locally owned with two locations in Dayton. The owner, Nnodum Iheme, opened the pharmacy in 2009 after Rite Aid closed their nearby Hoover Avenue location the previous year.

While Ziks has filled the gap in West Dayton, Iheme agrees with large chains and independent pharmacies that like his fight to pay less.

“If [Walgreens] they buy medicine, it might be $1,000, and the insurance only reimburses them $700, how can they stay in business?” Iheme said. “Our profile is a little bit smaller, but we’re going through the same problems they’re going through with payments.”

Iheme wants to keep an open mind, but admits that he is also in pain.

Iheme said: “I want to be able to pay my people good money. “I really want them to enjoy the work they do for the community, and give them back properly, but sometimes because of the placement when the reimbursement and the cost of the medicines we buy, it becomes a hindrance.”

As pharmacies struggle to stay in business, Ohio consumers are left to figure out where and how to get their medications, when they close.

Meanwhile, patients like Chanel Maston and fellow Westsider and Walgreens customer Sandra Black will have to travel farther to get their prescriptions.

“If I had to go to the doctor or anything, we would come here. It’s close,” Black said. “We are surprised because there is nothing here, now there is nothing. I’m sorry.”