Rite Aid’s Closure is a Call to Action to Address Pharmacy Payment Model
A conversation with Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, CEO of NCPA, on the chain pharmacy’s announcement of a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Rite Aid, which was once one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, recently announced it has filed its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing all of its stores or selling them.1 The company, which has continued to face financial hardships since filing for its first Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, said its stores will remain open for the next few months so that patients can continue to receive care.
Rite Aid currently has 1240 stores located in 15 states, down from about 2100 when it filed its first bankruptcy. The company said in a letter to customers it is “working to facilitate a smooth transfer of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies.”
According to a previous survey from the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), 43% of respondents said they are located near a chain pharmacy that has been impacted by closures or reduced hours.2 Although nearly 90% of respondents said they would be able to absorb patients who were receiving care at one of the chain stores, but low reimbursement, and not enough staff or resources would make it difficult.
Drug Topics® recently sat down with Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, CEO of NCPA, to discuss how Rite Aid store closures will impact independent pharmacies across the country, what independent pharmacies can do to effectively handle an influx of patients, and what Rite Aid’s situation means for the pharmacy landscape.
“Without payment reform, pharmacies as we know them are moving toward extinction—that won’t happen—but it’s a call to action for legislators who have been sitting on their hands and employers who have been unaware of the situation that they need to do something different,” Hoey said. “What they need to do differently is they need to pay pharmacies fairly. Cost-plus, a fair dispensing fee, transparency, simplicity, [and] predictability is what is needed to fix this broken system.”
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