One of the nation’s leading young conservative voices who rose to fame from Alabama, CJ Pearson, challenged a narrative by AL.com about a so-called “pharmacy crisis” in Alabama. Pearson, a graduate of the University of Alabama and co-chair of the national GOP youth advisory council, said it’s an effort to revive a controversial tax hike that failed during the 2024 state legislative session.
“I lived in Alabama and there is no pharmacy crisis. An open records request showed that there were almost 11 local pharmacies and a total of 19 total pharmacies per county. Last year, they tried to pass a $10 tax on every single prescription in the state…sounds like they will be back for round 2 in 2025. Hopefully, the Legislature will say no to special handouts.”
AL.com claimed that over 350 pharmacies had closed in Alabama since 2018, averaging more than one closure per week. However, public records from the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy shed light on a different picture.
According to data from the Alabama State Board of Pharmacy, as of August 2024, Alabama has 729 active community pharmacies and 570 chain pharmacies. That totals nearly 1,300 in-state pharmacies – a figure that reflects substantial coverage across the state’s 67 counties, with an average of nearly 19 pharmacies per county.
I lived in Alabama and there is no pharmacy crisis. An open records request showed that there were almost 11 local pharmacies and a total 19 total pharmacies per county. Last year, they tried to pass a $10 per tax on every single prescription in the state…sounds like they will…
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) January 7, 2025
The debate is far from over, Pearson says, with a renewed push for pharmacy reform likely in the 2025 Alabama legislative session.
RELATED: Debate over pharmacy reimbursement bill expected to intensify
In 2024, HB238, known as the FAIR Meds Act, introduced by State Rep. Phillip Rigsby (R-Huntsville), would have reformed prescription drug reimbursement by requiring pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to compensate in-network pharmacies for the actual acquisition costs of medications. Additionally, it proposed implementing a dispensing fee of $10.64 per prescription, modeled on federal guidelines used in Medicaid.
The $10.64 dispensing fee was quickly labeled a prescription tax that could gouge Alabama families for up to $1,100 a year.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
