**From Helaine Olen, managing editor at the American Economic Liberties Project and a reporter in residence at the Omidyar Network:**
Walgreens’ announcement Tuesday that it plans to shutter 1,200 locations over the next three years made headlines, but that doesn’t mean it was a surprise. The company is losing money and indicated a significant closure announcement was coming this past summer.
And among pharmacies large and small, Walgreens is not the exception; it’s the rule. CVS announced it would close 300 locations earlier this year. Rite-Aid has shut down hundreds of location**s** since filing for bankruptcy in 2023. Independent pharmacists face an existential crisis, with many saying they are struggling to keep their doors open. In the first eight months of 2024, more than 2,000 pharmacies across the U.S. closed, according to research conducted by Ben Jolley, a fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project (where, disclosure, I am on staff). That number is almost evenly divided between independent pharmacies and corporate chains, with [rural America hit particularly hard](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/11/pharmacy-deserts-across-us-drug-stores-closures-spread.html).
>Pharmacies traditionally earn money in two ways. The first is the obvious one: filling prescriptions. But that model is increasingly under threat. A major culprit? Pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs. These companies originally intended to save patients and insurers money by negotiating discounts from manufacturers on medications. But more recently, **they have been snapped up by larger and larger conglomerates.** As they consolidated — the three largest PBMs handled almost 80% of all prescriptions issued in the U.S. in 2023 — they steered business toward favored pharmacies (including ones they owned) and mail-order facilities.
Private Equity is eating us alive.
We have got to stop them or they’ll destroy our entire way of life.
You’ll live 6 to an apartment living off one $10.00 packet of Ramen Noodles a day at the rate they’re going.
seriousbangs on
My allergy meds just get mailed to me. In the past I’d go to Wallgreens, maybe pick up some cheap cookies or fig bars they have that I like.
I just realized I haven’t bought those fig bars in months.
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**From Helaine Olen, managing editor at the American Economic Liberties Project and a reporter in residence at the Omidyar Network:**
Walgreens’ announcement Tuesday that it plans to shutter 1,200 locations over the next three years made headlines, but that doesn’t mean it was a surprise. The company is losing money and indicated a significant closure announcement was coming this past summer.
And among pharmacies large and small, Walgreens is not the exception; it’s the rule. CVS announced it would close 300 locations earlier this year. Rite-Aid has shut down hundreds of location**s** since filing for bankruptcy in 2023. Independent pharmacists face an existential crisis, with many saying they are struggling to keep their doors open. In the first eight months of 2024, more than 2,000 pharmacies across the U.S. closed, according to research conducted by Ben Jolley, a fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project (where, disclosure, I am on staff). That number is almost evenly divided between independent pharmacies and corporate chains, with [rural America hit particularly hard](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/11/pharmacy-deserts-across-us-drug-stores-closures-spread.html).
**Read more:** [https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/walgreens-closing-stores-pharmacies-rcna175527](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/walgreens-closing-stores-pharmacies-rcna175527)
>Pharmacies traditionally earn money in two ways. The first is the obvious one: filling prescriptions. But that model is increasingly under threat. A major culprit? Pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs. These companies originally intended to save patients and insurers money by negotiating discounts from manufacturers on medications. But more recently, **they have been snapped up by larger and larger conglomerates.** As they consolidated — the three largest PBMs handled almost 80% of all prescriptions issued in the U.S. in 2023 — they steered business toward favored pharmacies (including ones they owned) and mail-order facilities.
Private Equity is eating us alive.
We have got to stop them or they’ll destroy our entire way of life.
You’ll live 6 to an apartment living off one $10.00 packet of Ramen Noodles a day at the rate they’re going.
My allergy meds just get mailed to me. In the past I’d go to Wallgreens, maybe pick up some cheap cookies or fig bars they have that I like.
I just realized I haven’t bought those fig bars in months.