ATLANTA – Owners of independent pharmacies in Georgia are criticizing Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision this week to veto legislation aimed at rectifying a situation that has left them at a competitive disadvantage with pharmacy chains.
Senate Bill 198, which the state House and Senate passed with only one “no” vote, would have required the State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) covering teachers and state employees to reimburse independent pharmacies filling prescriptions at rates no less than the average reimbursement provided to chain pharmacies.
In the most severe instance, pharmacy chains are being reimbursed for atorvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug known by the brand name Lipitor, at rates 2,000% higher than the reimbursements independent pharmacies are getting for the same drug.
Bell’s Family Pharmacy in Jasper, which went out of business in February, was being reimbursed just $1.90 for a 90-day supply of Lipitor, while the three closest chain pharmacies were getting $46.87, according to a chart compiled by CVS Caremark, which administers pharmacy benefit services for the SHBP.
“You can’t stay in business for $1.90,” said Denise Bennett, who owns two independent pharmacies in Blackshear and Nahunta. “Many pharmacies are closing because of this practice. … It’s just sad.”
Indeed, independent pharmacies have closed their doors in recent years in Cornelia, Dunwoody, Suwanee, Fayetteville, Helen, Clarksville, Hartwell, Royston, Statesboro and Waycross, citing low reimbursement rates for prescriptions.
“These were folks that stayed open during COVID,” said state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, who owned an independent pharmacy until he retired from the business in 2016. “In some cases, they were the only health care in town.”
In his veto message, Kemp pointed to fiscal estimates showing that implementing the bill would cost the state Department of Community Health (DCH) $11 million to $45 million per year, funds the General Assembly did not provide.
As an alternative, the governor wrote, the fiscal 2025 state budget he signed this week includes one-time funding for a dispensing fee of $3 per prescription for independent pharmacists, increasing to $11.50 for independent low-volume pharmacies filling prescriptions for Medicaid patients. The budget also directs the DCH to use existing funds for an actuarial study on SHBP independent pharmacy prescription drug reimbursements, he wrote.
“These budget items provide an appropriate, fiscally sound approach to supporting independent pharmacists this year while obtaining necessary information to aid the department in evaluating current and future management of the state’s pharmacy plan,” Kemp wrote.
Stephens said the dispensing fee might allow some independent pharmacies to keep their doors open. But he vowed to mount another push next year for legislation evening the playing field for independent pharmacists.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Water Coalition released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list for 2024 Thursday, a combination of specific polluted waterways across the state and policies that threaten the health of Georgia’s water resources.
The report identified threats to the following specific waterways:
Abercorn Creek, where growth spurred by the Port of Savannah threatens regional water supplies.
Altamaha River, where the state continues to allow a pulp mill in Jesup to pollute the river.
Conasauga and Ogeechee rivers, where the presence of toxic “forever chemicals” taints fish and threatens human health.
Coosa River, where Georgia Power plans to leave coal ash in one pond at the closed Plant Hammond to remain in contact with groundwater.
Flint River in Decatur County, where plans for a $400 million monkey breeding facility have residents worried about the spread of disease.
Floridan Aquifer in South Georgia, where growth in coastal counties is straining underground water supplies.
Okefenokee Swamp, where the state is poised to issue permits for a proposed titanium mine along Trail Ridge.
More generally, the report warned about the drain on energy and water supplies posed by an influx of massive data centers in Georgia and a push to privatize public water resources.
Much of the stress on the state’s waterways stems from the rapid growth in recent years that has won Georgia the status of being the No.-1 state to do business, said Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, one of the Georgia Water Coalition’s more than 260 member organizations.
“Our success in economic development has had a downside,” he said.
Joe Cook of the Georgia River Network, who chaired the committee that selected the Dirty Dozen, said the controversy over the proposed monkey breeding facility in Bainbridge drew attention to the role local development authorities play in crafting secret deals offering tax incentives to lure businesses to their communities. The company behind the project, Safer Human Medicine, is looking to house 30,000 monkeys for medical research.
“That’s more monkeys than there are people in Decatur County,” Cook said.
The report identified PFAS, a group of manmade “forever chemicals” used to make fabric stain resistant and fire retardant, as an emerging pollutant. While the carpet and textile industries are phasing them out, they’re still polluting rivers and contaminating fish, especially in the Conasauga and Ogeechee rivers.
Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed legislation this week that would have temporarily suspended a state sales tax exemption aimed at attracting data centers. The bill’s supporters said the two-year pause in the exemption was needed to allow time to study the impacts the industry’s rapid growth is having on energy and water supplies.
“Tax breaks to lure data centers to Georgia have had unintended consequences,” Cook said. “They use tremendous amounts of energy and water.”
Finally, the report cited two bills the General Assembly passed this year aimed at privatizing the state’s water resources. The water coalition criticized measures granting Georgians the right to hunt and fish in the state’s navigable rivers and streams as inadequate for protecting public access.
Another bill the report slammed will allow a private water utility to serve new homes near the Hyundai plant without the consent of local governments.
ATLANTA – Legislation U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced to protect children from online abuse and exploitation has been signed into law.
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan REPORT Act Tuesday, which Ossoff introduced in partnership with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
The bill requires websites and social media platforms to report crimes involving the trafficking and enticement of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Companies that knowingly and willfully fail to report child sex abuse material on their sites will face increased fines.
“My bipartisan law with Senator Blackburn will ensure tech companies are held accountable to report and remove child sex abuse material and to strengthen protection for kids online,” Ossoff said. “At a time of such division in Congress, we successfully brought Republicans and Democrats together to protect kids on the internet, and now our bill is law.”
“Children are increasingly looking at screens, and the reality is that this leaves more innocent kids at risk of online exploitation,” Blackburn added. “Under this law, Big Tech will now be required to report trafficking, grooming or enticement of children found on their sites.”
Ossoff chairs the Senate’s Human Rights Subcommittee, while Blackburn serves as the panel’s ranking Republican. An investigation they launched early last year to assess the safety of children in foster care found lax oversight by federal and state child welfare agencies when it comes to missing children.
Ossoff cited audits of multiple states that found 45% of missing child incidents were not reported to the NCMEC and that most missing children were not screened for sex trafficking after they were recovered.
The NCMEC endorsed the REPORT Act as well as a companion bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The REPORT Act provides critical child safety improvements,” said Michelle DeLaune, the NCMEC’s president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing our work with Congress to prioritize the safety of children online because every child deserves a safe childhood.”
This mug shot of Donald Trump was taken after he turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail last August.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue leading the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
The appellate court’s decision means further delays in a case that already has been slowed by a defense motion to remove Willis from prosecuting Trump and 18 co-defendants because of a romantic relationship between the DA and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned, which he did several hours later.
A Fulton grand jury handed down an indictment last August charging Trump and his associates with racketeering for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Democrat Joe Biden carried the Peach State by the razor-thin margin of 11,780 votes.
Since then, several of the defendants have pleaded guilty, while McAfee has dismissed six of the 41 counts filed against Trump and several co-defendants. The judge declared the charges legally defective.
In the March ruling on the motion to disqualify Willis, McAfee declared the defendants failed to meet their burden of proof that the relationship between the DA and Wade resulted in an actual conflict of interest. But the judge declared that the appearance of a conflict was sufficient to infect “the current structure of the prosecution team.”
He gave Willis the option of removing herself from the case or remaining if Wade stepped aside.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp has wrapped up the annual bill-signing season by putting his signature to a package of election law changes backed by Republicans but criticized by Democrats and voting-rights advocates.
Kemp signed the three bills on Tuesday, the deadline for the governor to either sign or veto legislation the General Assembly passed this year.
The three-bill package marked the latest bid by Georgia Republicans to overhaul state election laws in the wake of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in 2020. Biden narrowly carried the Peach State, the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Passing mostly along party lines, the package included:
Senate Bill 189, which makes it easier to file mass voter challenges, eliminates QR codes from paper ballots, and eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to get on Georgia’s ballot.
House Bill 1207, which allows fewer voting machines on election days, requires poll workers to be U.S. citizens, and allows closer access for poll watchers.
House Bill 974, which requires the secretary of state to set up a statewide system to scan and post paper ballots at a minimum resolution and requires more audits of statewide election results.
Republican supporters praised Kemp for signing into law legislation they said will promote the cause of election integrity.
“Although there is always more work to be done, our new laws will ensure even more accuracy, safety and transparency,” said former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., now serving as chairwoman of Greater Georgia, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing voters and protecting election integrity.
“On the eve of a presidential election, Georgians deserve to have confidence that – despite the best efforts of liberal activists in our courts, our media, and our federal government – their votes will count.”
But a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, which had threatened to sue if Senate Bill 189 became law, said the legislation imposes more barriers on both Georgia voters and election administrators.
“SB 189 is a step back for voters’ rights and voting access in the state of Georgia,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU’s Georgia chapter.
“Most importantly, this bill will require already overburdened election workers to spend time processing unnecessary voter challenges. … We are committed to protecting Georgia voters and will see the governor in court.”
Most of Senate Bill 189 will take effect ahead of the November elections. The two House bills become effective immediately.
