Congress is debating health insurance this week. A bipartisan deal is unlikely. It’s achievable, though. I know that because last week I introduced bipartisan drug-pricing legislation.

Excessive refilling is common practice at U.S. mail-order pharmacies, a Journal analysis of Medicare prescription data found, flooding the homes of seniors with extra drugs. Too-frequent refills by all U.S. pharmacies cost Medicare and patients $3 billion between 2021 and 2023, the analysis found.

“We really put as much effort as we possibly could have into making sure this place was successful. Unfortunately the harsh reality of business ownership is you’re met with your expectations versus reality,” [Austin] Bailey said.

Fruth, which has a dozen stores in West Virginia, has announced a sale of its pharmacies to Walgreens. Fruth has served residents in the Mountain State since 1952 when founder Jack Fruth opened the first store in Point Pleasant.

A lawsuit filed against GoodRx earlier this year alleges that the company is orchestrating an illegal price-fixing scheme with major pharmacy benefit managers that artificially suppresses reimbursement rates paid to independent pharmacies for generic drugs.

“This is the first time this community is not going to have a pharmacy,” Cannon explained. “Now that this one’s closed, they’ll have 20 miles in any direction to get to the nearest pharmacy.”