US poor and minority areas turning into 'pharmacy deserts'

[JacksinPA]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...turning-pharmacy-deserts-190104145544610.html

Pharmacies are closing in what they consider unprofitable poor and minority neighbourhoods in the US, often times depriving residents of access to medicine, counselling and local clinics.

More and more minority neighborhoods in US cities are becoming what healthcare experts call "pharmacy deserts".

From Oregon on the west coast to Baltimore on the east, local drug stores are closing up shop in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
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The problem here may be traced to profitability but the decline in the number of these pharmacies & the auxiliary service they provide - immunizations, drug counseling, STD testing, etc - is creating a growing gap in access to health care in major parts of the country.

 

[Chillfolks]

O wonder if these business had higher rates of theft? Are bring charged more for insurances because of location? Did vandalism chance them out? Was it lack of infrastructure? Are these mom and pop places or bigger chains? The article was short on details

 

[JacksinPA]

O wonder if these business had higher rates of theft? Are bring charged more for insurances because of location? Did vandalism chance them out? Was it lack of infrastructure? Are these mom and pop places or bigger chains? The article was short on details

Well, I would agree. So it should be an incentive to use The Google & go looking for more background on this. For example:

https://kwhi.com/cvs-pharmacy-in-brenham-closing-in-october/

https://clark.com/health-health-care/cvs-to-shutter-70-locations-in-2017/

https://clark.com/shopping-retail/cvs-first-reports-of-store-closures-begin/

And that's what I found in less than 5 minutes for CVS alone. Consider also Riteaid, Walgreens, Walmart, etc.

It would be of great interest to run these searches for perhaps the top 5 chains alone & then map the closures on state maps that could be posted in this forum. I'll bet we see clusters in the disadvantaged areas they referred to, like that CVS that was looted & burned in Baltimore during the riots. That store has reopened:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/m...ci-penn-north-cvs-reopens-20160306-story.html

So The Google tells us all we need to flesh out that article I posted.

 

[digsbe]

Insurance companies are killing pharmacies. They continuously decrease what they pay for drugs and reap massive profits. Many pharmacists fill some prescriptions at a loss because the drug may cost $200 and the contracted reimbursement is $150. Insurance companies are killing independent pharmacies which tend to also serve rural and economically depressed areas.

 

[Grokmaster]

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...turning-pharmacy-deserts-190104145544610.html

Pharmacies are closing in what they consider unprofitable poor and minority neighbourhoods in the US, often times depriving residents of access to medicine, counselling and local clinics.

More and more minority neighborhoods in US cities are becoming what healthcare experts call "pharmacy deserts".

From Oregon on the west coast to Baltimore on the east, local drug stores are closing up shop in low-income and minority neighborhoods.
=======================================================
The problem here may be traced to profitability but the decline in the number of these pharmacies & the auxiliary service they provide - immunizations, drug counseling, STD testing, etc - is creating a growing gap in access to health care in major parts of the country.

Good thing the current POTUS just enacted the OPPORTUNITY ZONES regulations....hopefully it will help....

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

The problem continues to grow.

The pharmacy giants have sought to shore up their positions through consolidation and by syncing up with insurance companies in ways that steer patients back to them. Aetna patients can go to any pharmacy, but they’ll get a better deal at CVS, which acquired the insurer in 2018. Blue Cross Blue Shield clients have a similar setup with Walgreens. Rite Aid, has no such relationship with an insurer.

And as such, Rite Aid is now in bankruptcy, and has closed another several dozen outlets and is preparing to close even more.