Join the TPA Independent Pharmacy Academy!
- Ben McNabb, PharmD
- Jun 24, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 27
Howdy Pharmacy Cowboys and Pharmacy Cowgirls!
I hope my first blog post finds you well. If you haven't seen my first video check it out below. I sincerely hope you will consider joining the Texas Pharmacy Association and the NEW TPA Independent Pharmacy Academy. We have already accomplished so much but we could really use your support.
I'm incredibly proud of the bill TPA passed last #TxLeg session. Ask yourself, what would have happened if TPA didn't fight to remove "poison pill" language from HB 1763? Independent pharmacies would still have massive roadblocks when dispensing specialty drugs and little to no protection would exist against retroactive clawback fees (aka DIR fees) in Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) regulated plans.
TDI-regulated plans make up only about 20–30 percent of commercial coverage in Texas, so we still have work to do on the remaining 70–80 percent. Fortunately, the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Rutledge v. PCMA strengthens the case for extending meaningful pharmacy protections to ERISA-governed plans as well.
As we move forward, it’s critical that any new bill preserve the strongest possible language and avoid provisions that could dilute its impact. Headlines alone don’t tell the whole story—reading the full text is the only way to know whether a proposal will truly protect independent pharmacy. We’re at a pivotal moment, and we can’t afford to let well-intentioned legislation fall short.
Below you’ll find a side-by-side markup that contrasts the final version of HB 1763 with an earlier draft containing clauses that would have narrowed the bill’s reach. Thanks to persistent advocacy, those limitations were removed. Continued transparency and collaboration across the profession remain essential to keeping Texas pharmacy on solid footing.
We need more deputies to join the Texas Pharmacy Posse. We're wranglin' up the PBM Outlaws, bringin'em back to town, dead or alive. We need all the good Pharmacy Cowboys and Pharmacy Cowgirls to join in the fight, cause they're mean enough to steal a coin off a dead man's eyes. So y'all saddle your horse and grab your six-gun, we're riddin' out upon the rising sun. And don't forget what John Wayne said, "Courage is being scared to death and saddling up any way." God bless pharmacy and God bless Texas, Amen.
Join the TPA Independent Pharmacy Academy --> https://www.texaspharmacy.org/IPA
Support the PharmPAC --> https://www.texaspharmacy.org/page/PharmPAC
Ben is absolutely correct on the details he has mentioned. I, and many others, have tried work with other groups to obtain a single voice for pharmacy matters legislatively and every time we were given a rejection of unity. This tells me that a divided pharmacy is good for business... if your not a pharmacy. TPA's IPA is truly the only unbiased entity, free of influence from buying groups, insurances, PBMs, that represents what pharmacy needs and wants. If you are an independent pharmacy owner, you need to be a part of the IPA (and just so you know the IPA is the result of AIP and TIPA formally closing their doors and coming together) because without TPA's IPA's leaders…