Home Article NCPA celebrates PBM bill passing in Tennessee

NCPA celebrates PBM bill passing in Tennessee

By HME News Staff

Updated 10:58 AM CDT, Tue May 26, 2026

Douglas Hoey ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) applauds Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for signing the Freedom, Access and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act (Senate Bill 2040/House Bill 1959) into law, making the state the second to pass legislation prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or operating pharmacies. The NCPA supported the Tennessee Pharmacists Association’s leadership on the FAIR Rx Act as it moved through the legislative process. “An enormous conflict of interest exists when a giant corporate PBM or insurance plan owns and operates its own pharmacy,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA. “This legislation simply gives these health care giants a choice — you can be a PBM or you can be a pharmacy but you can’t be both. The FAIR Rx Act provides structural change that strikes at the crux of that conflict. We applaud the governor and legislators for their courage, withstanding tremendous pressure from the PBM-insurer lobby to pass this bill and defend Tennessee’s patients, taxpayers, and pharmacies.” This follows a similar piece of legislation signed into law in Arkansas last year. A federal bill to require companies that own health insurers or PBMs to divest their pharmacy businesses was reintroduced in Congress on May 13.