Burns urges prompt review of Martella’s reinstatement applications
Burns demanded new law be part of this year's budget to help local pharmacy and customers
Rep. Frank Burns September 9, 2026 | 2:49 PM
JOHNSTOWN, Sept. 9 — Still fighting to help Martella’s Pharmacy fill prescriptions, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, is urging the massive pharmacy benefit manager that dropped the local pharmacy from its network to promptly review applications seeking reinstatement so customers know where they can get their medications.
For over a year, Martella’s has been battling the St. Louis-based Express Scripts Inc. over participation in its network. Express Scripts decided last year to terminate Martella’s from the network, leaving many local residents unsure of where to fill prescriptions that are covered by Medicaid and other insurance plans.
A new law, which Burns insisted should be part of this year’s state budget package in July, allows eligible pharmacies to apply to rejoin a network 12 months after their termination.
Burns recently arranged a meeting with Martella’s ownership and senior legislative staff in Harrisburg about the reinstatement process and asked the governor’s office for additional guidance on its implementation under the new law.
As a result, in a letter this week to Express Scripts President Adam Kautzner, Burns and House Majority Leader Matthew Bradford, D-Montgomery, wrote that Martella’s appears to satisfy the requirements for reinstatement under the new law. They added that the pharmacy should not be subject to a “prolonged administrative process.”
“The people affected by this issue are not simply names on a network list,” Burns and Bradford wrote. “They are patients who rely upon their community pharmacies as an essential part of their health care.”
Express Scripts has begun the process of recruiting Martella’s pharmacies back into its network, which Burns and Bradford described as “a positive development.” However, an application for Martella’s Ligonier pharmacy remains under review with no defined timeframe for completion, and the legislators noted that the “continued uncertainty directly affects patients.”
They added, “Every additional week of delay matters to a senior citizen who depends on prescription delivery, a person with a disability who cannot easily travel to another pharmacy, a Medicaid beneficiary without reliable transportation, or a rural family whose nearest alternative pharmacy may be miles away. For these Pennsylvanians, pharmacy access is health care access.”
Therefore, Burns and Bradford asked that Express Scripts provide the following:
- A specific date on which review of Martella’s pending applications will be completed.
- A firm timetable for contracting, credentialing and network activation.
______________________________________________________________________
“The people affected by this issue are not simply names on a network list. They are patients who rely upon their community pharmacies as an essential part of their health care.” – Reps. Burns and Majority Leader Bradford
______________________________________________________________________
Burns’ full letter to Express Scripts is available here.
###