health

'It's hard to live': WNYers hope new NYS regulations bring down the cost of prescription medication

Source: WKBW

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) -- Will new regulations announced by Governor Kathy Hochul help bring down the cost of prescription medication? Customers we spoke with at Brighton Eggert Pharmacy said they hope so.

Gov. Hochul announced the new regulations Thursday to "protect consumers from 'middlemen' who hike the cost of prescription medication."

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Beverly Chuldzinski said she is on numerous medications and sometimes it's hard to live.

"Either you eat or you need your prescriptions," said Chuldzinski.

Doug Klopfer shared his concerns as well.

"The monthly costs of prescriptions are just astronomical," said Doug Klopfer. "I think all governments, federal and state, should be looking at helping the seniors with their prescriptions."

In a press release, Hochul stated that New York will adopt new regulations for Pharmacy Benefit Managers to help protect customers and businesses.

"This is a long-awaited huge announcement for us," said Steve Giroux who owns several pharmacies in Western New York.

He explained that PBMs are responsible for high drug prices and the closing of thousands of pharmacies.

"There are three of them: Caremark, Expresscripts, and Optum that control 80 percent of the prescription marketplace meaning they have a huge influence over pricing," said Giroux.

The newly announced regulations aim to protect customers and pharmacies alike.

"Ultimately it should lower costs, improve access. Oftentimes, by these ridiculous contracts, pharmacists were prevented from telling patients that they can save money by for instance not using their insurance," said Giroux.

"Everybody wants to talk about big pharma. They want to talk about rising drug costs but there's somebody kind of operating kind of behind the scenes ratcheting up the prices," added Donny Arthur from Brighton Eggert Pharmacy.

Arthur has been working at his family's pharmacy for 20 years. He emphasized that regulating PBMs is long overdue:

"It's a challenge. At the pharmacy level, we don't have a lot of control. We don't choose what medications are prescribed; the physician does. We don't choose what your co-pay is - these PBMs do that,” Arthur explained.

He hopes Governor Hochul's newly announced regulations make a difference soon:

"It is hard yes; a brand name drug that costs $1,000 - sometimes insurance companies will want to pay us $100 less than our costs or more and it puts us in a very challenging position,” concluded Arthur.