New PATH Coalition Highlights Employer Risk from Pharmacy Closures

Many HR teams are facing a new kind of benefits headache: pharmacy closures that drive up claims and absences. When refills get delayed or workers have to drive farther for basic medications, health conditions that were once stable begin to slip. The impact shows up in renewal reports and attendance logs long before employees connect it to their benefits.

That growing pharmacy access gap is the backdrop for a new coalition launched this week by EmpiRx Health. The new initiative focuses on keeping community pharmacies open and accessible so pharmacy networks support employee health and wellness.

Why Pharmacy Closures Are Becoming an HR Issue

The warning signs rarely start in the pharmacy. HR notices the trend first, as attendance starts to slip and renewal costs spike in one pocket of the plan. A cluster of employees in one ZIP code starts missing more appointments or filing more intermittent leave requests. A quarterly claims review shows rising costs tied to conditions that had been stable. By the time HR connects the dots, they learn the only nearby pharmacy in that area closed months earlier.

Those closures hit working communities hardest, especially in suburban and rural regions where employees may rely on one or two pharmacies for every medication their household needs. Losing that access forces people to stretch refills or skip doses altogether. HR feels the consequences even if employees never directly report a problem. When access keeps breaking down, employees start to lose confidence in the benefit plan itself — and HR inherits the fallout in complaints and one-off exceptions.

You don’t see refill gaps at the individual level, but you do see them in aggregate trend reports. The carrier flags rising non-adherence rates in one ZIP code or a spike in condition-related claims that used to be flat. Those patterns point to pharmacy access problems long before employees bring them up. It can also complicate ADA accommodations when an employee’s treatment plan slips because they cannot consistently access the medications or supplies their provider prescribed. 

What the PATH Coalition Is Trying To Solve

EmpiRx has launched the PATH Coalition (Pharmacy Allies Transforming Healthcare) to keep local pharmacies open and accessible for employees who count on them.

When pharmacies close or cut hours because reimbursement no longer covers their costs, employees lose a practical place to fill prescriptions near home or work. HR then sees more last-minute call-outs tied to flare-ups, more “where can I fill this now” questions, and renewal reports that show chronic conditions slipping in the same few ZIP codes.

PATH connects employers, community pharmacy groups and other stakeholders dealing with those patterns every day. For employers, it looks like access gaps and preventable spend in certain areas of the plan. On the pharmacy side, current terms no longer support basic services employees rely on.

“That’s why we’re launching PATH. It’s time to put the power back in the hands of our community pharmacists and chart a healthier, more affordable path for healthcare in America,” said Danny Sanchez, Chief Executive Officer of EmpiRx Health.

The coalition’s work focuses on three areas. It aims to keep pharmacies viable in key employee markets, support pharmacists in everyday clinical roles and press for PBM and network rules that don’t push trusted neighborhood pharmacies out of the plans people actually use. 

For HR teams managing benefit plans, that work translates into:

• Fewer “my pharmacy is not in the network anymore” complaints and confused calls about where to go
• Fewer refill interruptions that turn into avoidable complications, flare-ups or leave request, and
• Pharmacy and medical spend that is more predictable and easier to walk through with finance at renewal.

What Employers Should Watch in Their Plans

HR will need to look at pharmacy network adequacy the same way they review provider networks for 2026. It’s no longer enough to confirm that a plan lists pharmacies in the network. The question is whether those locations are stable, accessible and able to keep up with employee demand.

Some PBM models use reimbursement terms that put quiet pressure on community pharmacies. Those terms can make it hard for a pharmacy to stay in network or even stay open, which creates access gaps HR doesn’t hear about until employees start reporting long drives, stock issues or unexpected denials. 

To get ahead of it, HR may need to directly ask for reporting on pharmacy stability and reimbursement trends. Carriers and PBMs often have data on which ZIP codes are at higher risk for closures or network changes, but they don’t always offer it without a prompt. That information helps HR spot where chronic condition claims may climb or where refill issues are likely to appear.

Distributed and rural workforces face the highest exposure. In many communities, employees rely on one or two pharmacies for everything. If one closes or reduces hours, the entire area feels it. That makes pharmacy access a key item for 2026 plan reviews, especially in regions where employees already struggle with limited care options.

Two questions to raise in 2026:

• What does your data show about pharmacy stability and closure risk in our key ZIP codes?
• How are current PBM reimbursement and network rules affecting access to community pharmacies our employees actually use?

How PATH Could Influence Employer Conversations

The PATH Coalition signals that pharmacy stability is becoming part of mainstream benefits planning and puts pharmacy access on the radar for employers that have been dealing with refill issues and rising claims without a clear explanation of what is driving the trend.

Employers that follow PATH’s work may gain leverage in conversations about PBM accountability and transparency. They can use PATH’s priorities as a reference point to ask whether their own PBM contracts and networks manage local access risk in the same way. When a national coalition is raising questions about reimbursement terms and network rules, it gives HR and finance a stronger footing to ask how those same terms affect their own plan and links their questions to the broader PBM reform debate.

That momentum gives HR room to push vendors for clearer data on pharmacy access and network risk. Pharmacy access has become a direct test of whether your plan supports day-to-day employee health.