While Korean-American pharmacies have called for closures and a partial strike on April 2 in protest of the changed drug fees, a growing number of private pharmacies are closing due to financial difficulties caused by steeply rising drug fees, according to a new report.
According to the California Korean American Pharmacists Association, six Korean-American member pharmacies permanently closed their doors last year alone due to business difficulties. Most chose to close because they could not afford to continue operating at a loss, owing to drug fee increases of up to 25 percent.
The organization currently has more than 130 member pharmacies, most of them concentrated in Southern California. There are 36 pharmacies in the LA Koreatown neighborhood.
Pharmacies have been struggling to operate at a loss since January, when pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the middlemen who manage the prescription drug billing process, unilaterally imposed fees of up to 25 percent, according to pharmacies. SB 699, a bill calling for audits of PBMs and normalization of drug prices, is pending in the state capitol.
Korean-American pharmacies are not alone in this struggle.
According to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), 307 private pharmacies have closed across the United States in the past year. And 32% of private pharmacy owners plan to close by the end of this year. It cited reduced reimbursements as the top reason for closing.
According to the NCPA, there are 19,423 independently owned and operated pharmacies in the United States.
“The reality is that we lose money when we sell drugs,” said Jaesung Lee, a pharmacist at Family Care Pharmacy in Buena Park. “But we can’t hand over a poorly run pharmacy to someone else with high fees,” Lee added. “Eventually, pharmacists approaching retirement age have no choice but to close their doors.”
Martin Kim, president of the California Korean American Pharmacists Association, said, “It’s not just about the money that drives us to close down and speak out. It is that we have to fight for our rights.”
“We have asked the Vietnamese and Indian American community pharmacies to join us, and they are responding positively. We are planning a national campaign, not just in California,” he said.
“Honestly, it’s a difficult issue. I know it won’t be solved by lobbying or protests,” Kim added, “but we need to start now. If there are fewer of us, that means Korean Americans are eventually going to lose access to Korean language services. We need our community’s support.”
“To ensure that Korean-American clients do not lose their prescriptions due to closures or partial strikes, we are calling patients at each pharmacy to inform them,” said Changho Yoo, chairman of the board at the California Korean-American Pharmacists Association, emphasizing that patients should contact their pharmacy in advance if they need any medications.
BY NICOLE CHANG, HOONSIK WOO [chang.nicole@koreadaily.com]
