Sarah Sanders Stands Firm as CVS Threatens to Pull Out of Arkansas

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not playing politics with Big Pharma and she's making that clear as CVS threatens to shutter every one of its pharmacies in the state.

At the center of this corporate tantrum is Act 624, a groundbreaking law that bans pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from holding permits for prescription drug sales in Arkansas. PBMs, the so-called "middlemen" in the drug pricing game, have long claimed to lower costs. But over time, they've morphed into monopolistic giants driving inflated prices and destroying small-town pharmacies.

CVS, which owns one of the Big Three PBMs Caremark immediately threatened to pull its 23 Arkansas locations and eliminate hundreds of jobs. But Sanders isn’t flinching.

“They care more about their bottom line than the patients they claim to serve,” Sanders. “We have a number of other pharmacies that I know will be happy to step up and take CVS’s place.”

Translation: Arkansas won’t be held hostage by corporate greed.

Here’s what Sanders is taking on:

• Three PBM giants now control over 80% of the U.S. prescription drug market, impacting more than 270 million Americans.

• PBMs are accused of price manipulation, underpaying small pharmacies, and using their control to benefit parent companies like CVS.

• Arkansas’ new law, going into effect January 2026, is the first of its kind in the nation, and could spark a domino effect in other states.

CVS whined that the law is “unconstitutional” and will “drive-up costs for Arkansans,” yet admits its own PBM reimburses smaller independent pharmacies more than its own stores. That says everything you need to know about the shell game these companies are playing.

The last thing America needs is unelected corporate cartels determining who gets access to medicine. PBMs were supposed to negotiate prices not crush competition and fleece consumers in the process.

As Sanders explained:

“What was actually happening is the pharmacies were buying the PBMs and completely controlling and monopolizing the market… They’re over-inflating prices and passing that inflation down to the consumer.”

This is why President Trump recently signed an executive order targeting PBMs, encouraging direct purchasing and forcing transparency a move widely applauded by patient advocates and small pharmacies alike.

And it’s not just Arkansas. States like Louisiana, New York, and Texas are now considering similar legislation, with bipartisan support growing as Americans realize these drug middlemen are part of the problem not the solution.

While CVS throws a corporate temper tantrum, Sarah Sanders is focused on defending access to care, especially for rural communities, and ensuring fair pricing for Arkansans.

“This isn’t just about policy. It’s about people having access to the medicine they need without being strangled by artificial prices and corporate collusion,” she said.

America needs more leaders like Sanders willing to take on the corporate class, stand up for working people, and lead the charge in dismantling the corrupt systems that bleed taxpayers dry.

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