Pennsylvania

In the wake of Rite Aid closures, the Department of Insurance (PID) issued Notice 2025-07 urging to insurers and PBMs to take immediate steps to protect patients' access to prescription medication as many Pennsylvanians look for a new pharmacy. Specifically, PID asked them to:   

• Help patients quickly find a new pharmacy if their local Rite Aid has closed;  

• Allow a patient to use out-of-network pharmacies when in-network pharmacies are not available and, make sure patients do not pay more than in-network prices in such cases;  

• Transfer any existing approvals or prior authorizations to the new pharmacy automatically; 

• Set up hotlines, websites or other support tools to make prescription transfers easy;  

• Fast-track urgent requests, like specialty medications and controlled substances; and  

• Pause or reschedule pharmacy audits.  

 Additionally, the notice encouraged consumers experiencing issues accessing their prescriptions to file a complaint or call 1-866-PA-COMPLAINT.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.