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Newswire
Articles from the PUTT Blog and In The News.


ICYMI | Pharmacists Fight Back Act Press Conference (video)
December 11, 2025 Washington, DC To learn more about the Pharmacists Fight Back Act and to contact your federal legislator, visit PharmacistsFightBack.org
7 hours ago1 min read


In The News | Bad law means bad, sometimes tragic, health outcomes
The Independence Bucks County Author: Dr Marion Mass On January 10, 2024, 22-year-old Cole Schmidtknecht of Appleton, Wisconsin, went to his big-box pharmacy and was told that a preventative asthma inhaler he had relied on for years was no longer covered by his insurer. He would have to pay over $500 for it — out of pocket. Cole left without the inhaler. On January 21, 2024, he died as a consequence of a severe asthma attack. His father, Bil, who had the same insurance provi
4 days ago4 min read


PUTT Blog | Pharmacists Fight Back Act to Be Officially Announced at December 11 DC News Conference - Will You Join Us?
Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 11, 10 am ET . That’s when Representatives Jake Auchincloss and Diana Harshbarger, together with some of our profession’s most outspoken advocates, will announce the filing of the Pharmacists Fight Back Act bills in Medicaid/Medicare and the federal employee benefits plan. Following on the heels of Representative Buddy Carter's PBM Reform Act (HR 4317), the Pharmacists Fight Back Act bills are the most comprehensive federal PBM re
Dec 22 min read


PUTT Blog | Why Pharmacist Advocacy Matters - And Why We Must Show Up and Speak Up
Let’s cut straight to it: the most powerful voice in healthcare policy isn’t a lobbyist, a trade association, or a polished talking point crafted in a Washington office. It’s a constituent. A real human being who can look their lawmaker in the eye and say, “Here is what your decisions are doing to my community.” And in pharmacy, that voice is us . The word “lobbying” actually has a colorful history. It traces back to the days when someone would wait in the lobbies of legisla
Nov 264 min read


In The News | The Middlemen Draining Main Street Pharmacies
Real Clear Health Reporter: Justin Leventhal In the past decade, independent drugstores have been vanishing, especially in low-income, minority, and rural communities, in part due to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) having rigged the system in favor of their own pharmacies. By steering patients to in-house pharmacies and squeezing independent pharmacies with hidden fees, PBMs are driving local pharmacies out of business . This loss of competition hits vulnerable communities
Nov 72 min read


PUTT Blog | It’s “Go Time!” Does Your Congressional Representative Support the Pharmacists Fight Back Act?
It’s time! The most comprehensive federal pro-pharmacy/pharmacy patient PBM reform legislation is poised to be filed, so it’s time for all of us to take the first step of our campaign - yes, during the government shutdown - to support advancing this legislation to eventual successful enactment. A Quick PFB Recap: Two Bills, One Mission The Pharmacists Fight Back Act (PFB) is now strategically split into two bills to allow for relevant jurisdictional process. “PFB Medicare
Oct 313 min read


PUTT Blog | 7 Days of PBM Reform and Resistance: A Not-So-Typical Week at PUTT
Are We Talking About the Same Middlemen? Following President Trump’s announcement today of “TrumpRx”, a new executive initiative to help lower patient drug costs, we thought for a minute the Chief Executive might have gotten pharmacies confused with PBMs. Currently there are not enough details to know exactly what TrumpRx is or how it would work, but we can all agree that patient safety cannot be compromised by removing access to trusted pharmacy professionals. Even if Tru
Sep 293 min read


In The News | Guest column: Price caps on medications will disrupt Oregon health care
Oregon Bend Bulletin Author: Monique Whitney, PUTT Executive Director The 85 community and independent pharmacies in Oregon are on the...
Sep 113 min read


PUTT Blog | Meeting the Moment: The Time for Bold Action is NOW
There will never be a better opportunity to swing out big for aggressive, meaningful PBM reform. The moment is now. Let’s do this...
Sep 33 min read


PUTT Blog | Guest Post: The Story of Tennessee’s MAC Law — and Why It Matters Now
Author: Kayla Copeland At the heart of Tennessee’s PBM reforms is the Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC) law. A MAC is the reimbursement cap a...
Aug 293 min read
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