• NCPA, Arkansas Pharmacists Defend Strong PBM Reform in Legal Brief
• NCPA, USC Launch Pharmacy Shortage Area Map
• J&J Plans to Reimburse Pharmacies at SDRA in MDPNP
• Tricare Announces Increased Pharmacy Copayments for CY 2026
• NCPA Presents at the AACP Advancing Community Pharmacy Institute
• Mark Cuban Calls out PBMs in Senate Committee Hearing 
• Register for DEA’s ARCOS Virtual Seminar to Be Held on Nov 13

NCPA, Arkansas Pharmacists Defend Strong PBM Reform in Legal Brief

This week, NCPA and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association this week filed a legal brief defending a landmark Arkansas law that blocks companies from operating a PBM and a pharmacy in the state simultaneously. The law, Act 624, removes PBMs’ ability to steer patients away from smaller competitors to their own pharmacies, and to reimburse their own pharmacies higher rates. One of the Big Three PBMs, Express Scripts, Inc., is suing to have it overturned.

“The Arkansas law is a model for the country,” said NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey. “Vertical integration has allowed a handful of giant corporations to control patients and create massive disadvantages for their competition. They deny patients the ability to choose their own health care providers, and they put a lot of small, independent pharmacies out of business, creating pharmacy deserts. The Arkansas law eliminates the obvious conflict of interest at the heart of the problem.”

Read our full news release here.

NCPA, USC Launch Pharmacy Shortage Area Map

NCPA, in collaboration with the University of Southern California, shared an interactive pharmacy shortage area mapping tool with the public yesterday, allowing journalists, policymakers, community advocates, and other stakeholders to identify pharmacy shortage areas. The tool, which is part of the USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access Initiative, shows that one in eight U.S. neighborhoods lack convenient access to pharmacy services, and that the issue is especially pronounced in rural and underserved urban communities. 

Users can identify neighborhoods designated as pharmacy shortage areas, track pharmacy closures and openings, and view data by state, county, and congressional district, among other services.

NCPA shared this tool with Congressional offices with a reminder that the growing issue of pharmacy shortages further demonstrates the need for prompt action on PBM reform.

Try the mapping tool out here. You can read our full news release here.

The USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access Initiative is funded in part by a grant from the NCPA Foundation.

J&J Plans to Reimburse Pharmacies at SDRA in MDPNP

In the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program, Johnson & Johnson is planning to pay pharmacies the standard default refund amount (SDRA) of wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) minus the maximum fair price (MFP) of the drug. In guidance, CMS recommended, but did not mandate, that manufacturers pay dispensers at SDRA. As of this writing, only AstraZeneca and J&J have committed to reimbursing pharmacies at the SDRA. Where contracted otherwise, J&J will calculate payment as the contract price minus MFP. For claims that are also 340B-eligible, if the MFP is lower than 340B price, the MFP refund will be the 340B price minus the MFP.  

J&J plans to transmit claim-level payment elements to the Medicare Transaction Facilitator  (MTF) data module (DM) within 14 days after it receives complete claim-level detail for eligible claims from the MTF DM. The MTF payment module will then be responsible for issuing payments directly to pharmacies. For the details of J&J’s plan, click here.

For resources and NCPA advocacy on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program, click here.

Tricare Announces Increased Pharmacy Copayments for CY 2026

Tricare announced the following pharmacy copayments for calendar year 2026, effective Jan. 1: $16 for retail network generic formulary 30-day supply; $48 for retail network brand-name formulary 30-day supply; $85 for retail network non-formulary 30-day supply; $14 for mail-order generic formulary 90-day supply; $44 for mail-order brand-name formulary 90-day supply; and $85 for mail-order non-formulary 90-day supply. These new rates constitute increases of 12 to 15.8 percent over current copayments. 

The new copayments apply to prescriptions for Tricare health beneficiaries filled outside of military health facilities. Tricare beneficiaries who fill prescriptions at military hospitals or clinics, and active-duty personnel filling prescriptions at retail pharmacies for covered medications, will not pay any cost-sharing or copayments.

NCPA Presents at the AACP Advancing Community Pharmacy Institute

Last week, Ronna Hauser, NCPA Senior Vice President of Policy and Pharmacy Affairs, co-presented with Michael Murphy, APhA, on Scope of Practice Expansion in Community Pharmacy Practice as part of the AACP Advancing Community Pharmacy Institute. The discussion provided an overview of state and regional efforts to expand pharmacist roles in delivering patient care. The presenters highlighted the current landscape, key legislative and regulatory updates shaping pharmacy practice. This was a virtual event that featured several hundred participants, including several NCPA members. 

Mark Cuban Calls out PBMs in Senate Committee Hearing

In a Senate Aging Committee hearing earlier this month on the use of shoppable health care services to improve patient outcomes and lower costs, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs co-founder Mark Cuban vociferously criticized the abusive pricing scheme the big three PBMs impose on independent community pharmacies.

"Let me tell you something a lot of people don't appreciate: That last five feet between the patients and the pharmacist is some of the most important time any patient will ever spend, because if they're getting medication that conflicts with each other, then some really bad things can happen," Cuban said. "So we underappreciate pharmacists, and the big PBMs are literally — purposefully as far as I can tell — putting them out of business."

He said that PBMs under-reimburse pharmacies "knowing there's only so much [independents] can take, where they'll either A, go out of business, or B, send the prescription to one of their captive pharmacies."

You can read more about the hearing here.

Register for DEA’s ARCOS Virtual Seminar to Be Held On Nov 13

The Diversion Control Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration is pleased to present a virtual seminar covering ARCOS (Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System) reporting requirements and procedures, an overview of the Retail Buyers Lookup Tool and Suspicious Orders Reporting requirements. It will be held on Thursday, November 13, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST on Zoom. Please see Agenda. 

There is no registration fee for this event. Capacity is limited to the first 3,000 attendees.

The ARCOS subject matter experts will provide information regarding the following ARCOS reporting requirements and procedures:

- DEA registered manufacturers, distributors and reverse distributors are required to report all sales, purchases, and manufacturing activities of ARCOS reportable drugs including Schedule I, Schedule II, Schedule IIIN and GHB, in addition to select Schedule III and IV psychotropics.

- Utilizing DEA's Retail Buyers Lookup Tool is an effective method to support due diligence efforts when supplying customers.

- The SUPPORT Act of 2019 requires all DEA registrants that distribute controlled substances to other DEA registrants to report suspicious orders to DEA.

Please click here on ARCOS Reporting prior to attending the webinar. It contains important details and resources that will help you better prepare and fully engage during the session.

Important Notice: This webinar is a two-part registration process. Please complete both steps to confirm your attendance.

Please click here to register.

Confirmation of registration will be sent to each attendee's email address.

Any questions regarding this conference may be directed to: VDAT@dea.gov

NCPA’s Advocacy Center Update provides a weekly detailed summary of recent and breaking legislative, regulatory, and state developments impacting independent community pharmacy and NCPA’s efforts to affect policies benefitting its membership and the industry. The weekly update is distributed to NCPA leadership, steering committees, allied organizations/stakeholders, and major contributors to the NCPA LDF and PAC. The weekly update is intended exclusively for the recipient and is not for external distribution.