CVS may shut all of its 134 places in a single state if new invoice goes forward | EUROtoday

CVS Health has warned it may shut all of its 134 pharmacies in Tennessee if a brand new invoice is given the inexperienced gentle by the state’s lawmakers.

If handed, Senate Bill 2040 would prohibit the co-ownership of pharmacies and pharmacy profit managers. The proposal was sponsored by Bobby Harshbarger, a member of the Tennessee Senate.

PBMs act as a intermediary between retail pharmacies, medical insurance corporations and drug producers. They are utilized by employers and well being insurers to barter drug costs.

“For too long, pharmacy benefit managers have been allowed to own or control pharmacies while also deciding which pharmacies patients can choose,” Harshbarger wrote in a press release on Facebook.

“That conflict of interest leads to patient steering, reduced choice, and local pharmacies being squeezed out.”

If the Freedom, Access and Integrity in Registered Pharmacy (FAIR Rx) Act passes, PBMs could be prohibited from holding pharmacy licenses from January 1, 2027.

However, Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for CVS Health, stated that the invoice may result in statewide closures of the model’s pharmacies.

“The only thing this legislation does is force the closure of 134 CVS pharmacies,” she advised The Independent. “It’s bad for Tennessee, for the more than 1.5 million patients we serve and for the more than 2,000 colleagues who will lose good paying jobs.”

Thibault additionally warned that CVS Health may need to shut down 25 in-store MinuteClinic places, however added that the corporate is dedicated to working with policymakers.

“Senate Bill 2040/House Bill 1959 would devastate pharmacy care access and affordability in Tennessee,” she continued. “It endangers Tennesseans by eliminating access to 134 vital community pharmacies and the essential health and wellness products they provide.”

On Tuesday, CVS Health confirmed to Newsweek that it had already closed greater than 1,100 of its pharmacy shops since 2022.

The spokesperson careworn that the closures weren’t in response to business circumstances and have been a part of a deliberate effort to restructure its community of branches.

“We’re confident that our current footprint features the right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers today,” a spokesperson for the model stated.

Harshbarger stated SB 2040 has already handed the Tennessee Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

Last 12 months, a federal decide halted proceedings in a problem over an analogous invoice in Arkansas.

Arkansas Act 624 of 2025 would have banned PBMs from holding permits to function drug shops within the state. However, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller dominated that the invoice “likely violates” the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

Harshbarger’s mom, Tennessee Representative Diana Harshbarger, has additionally been crucial of PMBs.

In December 2025, she introduced in a press assertion that she was introducing the Pharmacist Fight Back Act to ban PBMs “from engaging in predatory behaviors.”