During the National Legislative Conference of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), which concluded on Wednesday, independent pharmacists from across the country voiced support to increasing patient access to independent pharmacies.
NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey said it is often independent pharmacies that serve areas deemed to be underserved, and that substantial obstacles exist for small health care providers. Participants at the conference expressed support for H.R. 244, a transparency bill; H.R. 793/S. 1190, legislation that would update the policy on preferred pharmacy plans as a part of Medicare Part D; and H.R. 592/S. 314, which would recognize practicing pharmacists as health care providers.
"Why should pharmacies be forced to buy high and sell low, when the technology clearly exists to provide timely updates to generic prescription-drug reimbursement benchmarks," Hoey said. "Why should pharmacies be willing to accept ‘preferred pharmacy’ plan contract terms and still be precluded from participating in medically underserved areas? And why should clinically trained medication experts continue to be an untapped resource when they could help an already-overwhelmed health care system? These rhetorical questions each have one obvious answer: The status quo has become untenable, so now is the time to pass ready-made solutions.”
Attendees heard from U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and U.S. Reps. Doug Collins (R-GA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL).
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