ORLANDO, Fla. — Bruce Roberts, former chief executive officer of the National Community Pharmacists Association, has joined Benecard Services Inc. as the president and CEO of its prescription benefit facilitator (PBF) company.

Benecard Services is a prescription benefit manager based in Orlando, Fla., with offices in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and in Lawrenceville and Clifton, N.J.

"I am very excited that Bruce has decided to join us at BeneCard PBF," Benecard Services chairman Richard Ullman said at a recent board meeting. "His understanding of pharmacy and the role of the pharmacist, as well as his long-term advocacy for much needed change in the PBM industry, make him uniquely qualified to lead our company.

"BeneCard PBF is determined to see that the value of the pharmacy benefit, including the services of a pharmacist, is broadly recognized in our nation’s health care system and that employers and unions are able to get a transparent and fair pharmacy benefit," Ullman added.

NCPA had reported in late March that Roberts planned to step down from the community pharmacy group on June 25 and later join BeneCard PBF as chief executive.

"I see my joining Benecard Services as a logical next step in my career," Roberts said in a statement. "I have been a staunch critic of the abuses of the PBM industry. Because of the approach too many of the PBMs operate under, many see the pharmacist as simply the purveyor of a commodity. I feel fortunate that Richard Ullman and I share the same view, and that he is committed to change in the PBM system. I look forward to working together with him and the Benecard Services team to reshape the pharmacy benefit management landscape with our prescription benefit facilitator model."