{"id":507915,"date":"2026-06-23T22:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/507915\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:53:16","slug":"mid-michigan-independent-pharmacy-owners-raise-concerns-over-closures-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/507915\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Michigan independent pharmacy owners raise concerns over closures | Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mid-Michigan independent pharmacists are warning that pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are contributing to a rise in pharmacy closures.<\/p>\n


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CLIO, Mich. (WJRT) – Local pharmacists are raising concerns over growing independent pharmacy closures in Mid-Michigan.<\/p>\n

John Gross said he’s tired of seeing local pharmacies close.<\/p>\n

“Pharmacies closing has created these ‘pharmacy deserts,’ where customers and patients don’t have a place to go to get their prescriptions,” Gross said.<\/p>\n

He is the owner of J. Gross Pharmacy Group, which operates six different independent pharmacies across Mid-Michigan.<\/p>\n

Gross said pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are causing trouble for local pharmacists.<\/p>\n

“They’re the companies that control what drugs are going to be dispensed at a pharmacy that patients can get,” Gross said. “How much they have to pay, how much we get paid.”<\/p>\n

With PBMs acting as third-party administrators between pharmacies, insurance companies and drug manufacturers, Gross said they can adjust regulations to their favor.<\/p>\n

“They actually own pharmacies,” Gross said. “So, they can have patients go to their own stores, in which case, they’re paying themselves more.”<\/p>\n

Gross and other members of the Mid-Michigan Region Independent Pharmacy Closure Crisis Roundtable raised their concerns with Michigan State House Representative Matthew Bierlein.<\/p>\n

“We see what’s happening,” Bierlein said. “We know that there’s still a problem that’s existing in our local pharmacies.”<\/p>\n

He said federal action passed in 2026 is not doing enough when local institutions are bearing the brunt of the load.<\/p>\n

Even just a few months ago, ABC12 covered how Saginaw’s Falor Drugs decided to close its doors after 120 years.<\/p>\n

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“They’re not sure that they’re going to be able to continue filling the scripts of Michigan retirees because they lose money every time they do it,” Bierlein said. “That’s a big issue that we need to address.”<\/p>\n

Gross says he is worried about the pattern of closures because he has seen firsthand the effect a local touch can have.<\/p>\n

In 2024, roughly a third of all Michigan pharmacy closures were independent pharmacies.<\/p>\n

“Patients come in and have a local pharmacist where they can get their services on a tailored level,” Gross said. “And if we’re closed where are they going to go and what are they going to do, to get that service?”<\/p>\n

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