Newly published research from Health Affairs revealed that from 2018 through 2021, retail pharmacy closures outnumbered new retail pharmacy openings — and that nearly 30% of independent pharmacies that operated in the 2010-2020 timeframe had closed by 2021.
“In recent years, federal and state policy makers have expressed concern about retail pharmacy closures throughout the U.S.,” the research’s abstract, published Dec. 3, said. “However, there is a dearth of timely information on the extent of such closures. We linked data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs on all U.S. retail pharmacies to county-level data from the National Center for Health Statistics and ZIP Code Tabulation Area data from the American Community Survey to determine the number and percentage of pharmacy closures during the period 2010–21.”
Researchers also studied the characteristics associated with the closures of independent pharmacies.
“We found that of the 88,930 retail pharmacies operating during 2010-2020, 29.4% had closed by 2021,” the report said. “The risk for closure for pharmacies in predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods was higher than in white neighborhoods.
“Independent pharmacies were at greater risk for closure than chain pharmacies across all neighborhood and market characteristics.”
In response to these discoveries, researchers said, “Policy makers should consider strategies to increase the participation of independent pharmacies in Medicare and Medicaid preferred networks managed by pharmacy benefit managers and to increase public insurance reimbursement rates for pharmacies that are the highest risk for closure.”
In response to the research, Encinitas, California-based SciTechDaily noted that for most of the 2010s, pharmacy openings outnumbered closures in the U.S. Researchers said one in eight pharmacies closed down from 2009 through 2015.
Health Affairs, based in Washington, D.C., is a monthly peer-reviewed health-care journal focusing on health policy thought and research.
