The price of filling a prescription: Independent pharmacies fight for survival
Nine in 10 independent pharmacy owners in Brooklyn are facing potential cuts to staff and hours this year. The reason? Third-party pharmacy benefit managers.
Revenue at Bridge Pharmacy in Bay Ridge, open since 1998, is down 10 percent the past year, co-owner Stephen Cilento said. He and his partner have already laid off one pharmacy technician, and Cilento worries that if things don’t improve, he may have to shed another position or close the store an hour earlier each day.
Krishna Inapuri, co-owner of Vanderveer Pharmacy in East Flatbush, has already laid off two workers, a technician and a cashier. In January, he began closing the store an additional day each week. Inapuri disclosed that his partner has also cut his own salary.
More than 90 percent of independent pharmacy owners in Brooklyn said they are considering similar slashes to operating hours and jobs in 2019, according to a survey of members of an industry trade group.
Both pharmacy owners — and hundreds more across the state — say the source of their pain is clear: pharmacy benefit managers who have been pushing drug reimbursements down to unsustainable levels.