Tennessee lawmakers are once again considering legislation that would expand government interference in the healthcare market by targeting pharmacy benefit managers.
First of all, I’m no fan of PBMs. There should be guardrails on them, and Tennessee has already put some on several times over the past decade. However, what I’m even more concerned about is the government telling a private company that it is not allowed to operate a business within a state. This anti-free market approach is exactly what Tennessee state Sen. Bobby Harshbarger is attempting to do by introducing a bill that would ban any PBM from also operating a pharmacy inside Tennessee.
Just think about that — your pharmacy down the street that’s been serving your family for decades could be forced to close if Sen. Harshbarger gets his way. Talk about the heavy hand of the government. And we thought the government’s closure of businesses during the pandemic was wild…