PA Pharmacy Desert Crisis
NBC10 – Online Article – November 17, 2025 – Pennsylvania Faces Pharmacy Desert Crisis
When Malinda Fields realized she was only three days away from running out of her diabetes medication, panic set in.
“That’s a matter of life and death,” she said.
Her Northeast Philadelphia Rite Aid had closed just weeks earlier, one of hundreds of locations shuttered statewide. For Fields, finding another pharmacy meant multiple bus rides across the city — a difficult and exhausting journey for someone managing a chronic condition.
“I just don’t feel like I should have to take all these buses to go get my prescription,” she said.
Sadly, her story is no longer unusual in Pennsylvania.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, more than 400 pharmacies have closed in 2025 alone. Since 2020, that number climbs to over 1,000 closures across 61 of the state’s 67 counties.
That means hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians are losing their most accessible source of care. NBC10 Investigators found that more than 450,000 people without vehicles now live in ZIP codes where at least one pharmacy has closed.
The impact is especially visible in Philadelphia, where about 250,000 residents now live in pharmacy deserts — neighborhoods with no pharmacy within one mile.
In Pennsylvania’s suburbs, that “desert” extends to five miles. In rural areas, it can stretch to 10 miles or more.
The closures don’t just affect low-income areas. Data shows the median household income in ZIP codes that lost at least one pharmacy is around $71,000, slightly below the statewide median of $76,000.
Still, the effect is the same — patients like Malinda Fields are forced to travel long distances or go without their medication.
In one ZIP code alone, 19124 in Northeast Philadelphia, 11 pharmacies have closed since 2020 — the most of any area in the state.
“This is one of the greatest public health crises in the country,” said Steve Anderson, President and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drugstores.
Anderson blames the closures largely on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — the powerful middlemen that sit between drug manufacturers, insurers, and pharmacies.
“The growing influence and power of PBM companies are putting more pharmacies out of business,” he said.
PBMs decide which drugs insurers will cover, what patients will pay, and how much pharmacies are reimbursed for filling prescriptions.
“They add no value,” Anderson said. “And they’re draining money out of the system at the expense of pharmacies and patients.”
However, PBM trade groups disagree. Greg Lopes, a spokesperson for the Pharmacy Care Management Association, argued that multiple factors drive closures — from rural provider shortages to the growth of online pharmacies.
“People are now getting their drugs online quite a bit,” Lopes said. “PBMs negotiate to get lower prices for drugs, but Big Pharma sets the prices.”
Recognizing the problem, Pennsylvania lawmakers passed the Pharmacy Benefit Reform Act last year.
The new law gives the Pennsylvania Insurance Department the authority to regulate PBM practices and demand more transparency in how they set reimbursement rates and pay pharmacies.
“The process has been very opaque,” said Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys, “and it’s one that really costs consumers a lot of money out of pocket.”
For the first time, pharmacists will also have a formal channel to report PBM misconduct — including cases where PBMs give affiliated pharmacies better payment terms than independent ones.
Enforcement of the law begins in 2026, but pharmacies like the one Fields relied on can’t wait that long.
“They have to realize we are human beings and we need that medication for our life,” she said.
For patients, pharmacy closures aren’t just inconvenient — they’re dangerous. Missed doses can lead to emergency room visits, complications, or hospitalizations.
For small, independent pharmacies, these closures represent financial devastation caused by shrinking reimbursements and rising costs.
And for entire communities, each closure means one less place to get vaccinated, ask health questions, or receive care when clinics are closed.
As Anderson put it, “When a pharmacy disappears, a piece of the public health system disappears with it.”
At RescueMeds, we see these struggles every day. We serve injured workers, first responders, and families who depend on timely access to medication — even when the system fails them.
The Pennsylvania crisis reflects a national problem: PBMs and corporate consolidation are reshaping pharmacy access. Without reform, millions could lose the neighborhood pharmacists they trust most.
RescueMeds supports fair reimbursement, transparency, and accountability in pharmacy benefit management. Because no patient should have to ride three buses just to stay alive.
The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission has issued a warning about a sophisticated nationwide workers’ compensation…
Politico - Online Article - February 3, 2026 After years of stalled efforts, Congress is…
Business Insurance - Online Article - February 3, 2026 A newly introduced bill in Georgia…