Blog
OPPOSE Senate Bill 36
- By: admin
- On: 02/13/2023 12:09:06
- In: Legislative Update
It is time to reach out to your Senator and ask them to OPPOSE Senate Bill 36. As it exists today, the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy promotes, preserves, and protects public health, safety, and welfare through effective regulation of the pharmacy practice.
Senate Bill 36, however, would replace the current process that assures the KY Board of Pharmacy candidates are appropriately vetted by their professional peers and curates a Board of Pharmacy laden with corporate influence seeking to diminish public safety for the sake of operational efficiencies and cutting corners. For example, SB36 mandates a seat on the Board for a PBM but fails to include seats for health-system pharmacists and our academic colleagues.Furthermore, Senate Bill 36 prioritizes political influence over professional experience. Likewise, it eliminates the decades-long requirement of geographical diversity within the Board's composition. Our community pharmacists in Western Kentucky are different than our hospital pharmacists in Northern Kentucky. Kentucky's cultural diversity is as varied as our geography, from the food we eat to the way we speak. The corporate entities, including PBMs that are advocating for SB 36, do not know what's best for our patients.
The intent of SB 36 is evident. This is a corporate takeover of the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy. It is in the public's best interest that our profession's decision-makers be licensed and vetted pharmacists, not corporate puppets representing the business interests of a vertically and horizontally integrated pharmacy industry. It is equally important that the KY Board of Pharmacy members reflect the people we serve—ALL the people.
In response to SB 36 and the harmful consequences if enacted, KPhA has created an Action Alert, which can be found at the Advocacy Action Center on our website. Please login as a member on the website and visit the Advocacy Action Page. For your convenience, the form letter created by KPhA should auto-fill with your current Senator and their corresponding email. Just hit "send message." There is also a place to personalize a message. This is not just an attack on the profession but on public safety. We will always put patients over profit, and we must insist our elected officials do the same.