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 together. 

There are several starting points, all critical to the kind of big, bold, “beautiful” PBM reform we’re all looking for:  

The newly-strengthened Pharmacists Fight Back Act and Patients Before Monopolies Act are on the brink of being reintroduced. Are you a member of PUTT’s “PFB” Working Group? If not, you should be. Contact us here to join. 

The American Economic Liberties Project will hold its 2025 Anti-Monopoly Summit featuring many lawmakers critical to the success of our own efforts to stop anticompetitive PBM practices. Consider attending. Several PUTT board members will be there - let’s meet up! Then let’s walk over to Capitol Hill and call on some legislators who would love to meet you and hear your story.

NCPA’s Annual Convention in New Orleans is October 18-21. Have you registered? This is how important NCPA’s annual meeting is: we at PUTT never miss it. We look to Anne Cassity, Ronna Hauser and the very capable Government Affairs team to provide the latest updates on regulation and legislation. With so many new programs in discussion and/or starting (like the first 10 Medicare price-negotiated drugs in 2026), discussion will be centered on regulation and implementation, the importance of which cannot be understated. PUTT and NCPA do not always see eye-to-eye on the issues but never doubt we respect and appreciate NCPA staff and leadership for their efforts.

PUTT’s Annual Summit, scheduled for September 24th, will dig into the mechanics to effect seemingly “impossible” PBM reforms. Scroll down for more information, because this year’s Summit will be HUGE.

Remember, successful reform requires:

• Meaningful legislative advocacy that addresses pharmacy’s true needs: reimbursement that covers costs; enforceable financial and criminal penalties that end the cavalier lawbreaking; decentralizing healthcare and diluting market concentration 

• Professional unity among pharmacies, pharmacy advocates and pharmacy champions

• Strategy and action that reaches beyond the traditional thinking and norms. Understand there are certain norms, yes, but don’t let those norms distract us from the goal of achieving lasting reforms that protect our profession and our patients 

• Bold leadership and participation from every pharmacist and pharmacy advocate who refuses to accept limitations on our potential

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Now Let’s Talk About PUTT’s Annual Summit on September 24th

This year’s Summit focuses on taking Big, Bold, “Beautiful” action toward meaningful PBM reform. We’re specifically aiming at the PBM practices so deeply ingrained that conventional thinking says they're impossible to counteract. So this year we’ll take a deeper dive into:

• The year’s most controversial new law, Arkansas Act 624 (prohibiting PBMs from operating their owned/affiliated pharmacies while also operating as a PBM)  

• The new, strengthened Pharmacists Fight Back Act and Patients Before Monopolies Act. What’s changed, what’s required to pass them into law

• What the data tells us: the Audit Tricare Campaign and the Virginia Medicaid Report, which uncovered billions in government overspending 

• The newest panel of State Legislator Pharmacy Champions - what’s changed; what they’re hearing from the opposition; their outlook on 2026

The question isn't whether change will come. The question is whether we'll lead or be led by that change.

Whether it’s one event this fall or all of them, we invite you to take a bold step forward and get involved (especially the PUTT Summit). 

Let’s meet this moment together and help write pharmacy’s next chapter - the one in which we take back our profession; resume providing patient-centered care; and proudly stand with and for our communities as healthcare centers of excellence.

The time is now. Register for the PUTT Summit today. The future of the pharmacy profession is counting on you.

Yours in Advocacy,

Monique Whitney, Executive Director