ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) applauds The Washington Post Editorial Board for its editorial titled, “Alaska’s good idea to empower pharmacists,” endorsing the kind of pharmacist scope-of-practice modernization that NACDS and its partners have championed, and secured, for years. The editorial spotlights Alaska's House Bill 195 — passed by the Alaska Legislature and now awaiting the signature of Governor Mike Dunleavy — while making a broader, evidence-based argument targeted toward policymakers on the state and federal levels.
HB 195 would allow pharmacists to prescribe medications for conditions such as the flu, strep throat, and urinary tract infections, along with other conditions that fall within their education, training, and expertise. The editorial connects Alaska's effort to a clear national trend: as states confront care shortages — particularly in rural and underserved areas — they are increasingly making use of the medical expertise pharmacists already have.
The Editorial Board grounded its case in evidence, pointing to states like Idaho where pharmacy modernization helped bring pharmacies back to small towns that had gone without them for decades — with no evidence of adverse effects — and calling on other states to follow that lead.
Throughout the legislative process, the Alaska Pharmacy Association (APA) provided vital leadership in advocating for the bill's passage, and NACDS is proud to have worked alongside APA to advance reforms that expand pharmacists' ability to care for the people who need it most. Their success shows what becomes possible when pharmacists, state associations, and national partners pull together behind a single goal.
The significance of the editorial extends well beyond Alaska. Just last month, the House Committee on Ways and Means advanced the Main Street Pharmacy Access Act (H.R. 3164, formerly the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act), which would recognize pharmacists as healthcare providers under Medicare so that seniors can receive pharmacist-provided testing and treatment for common respiratory illnesses such as the flu and strep throat. That legislation does not expand pharmacists’ scope of practice, but rather ensures seniors in Medicare can benefit from certain state-approved services. That federal progress, paired with a steady succession of state-level wins like Alaska's, underscores a principle NACDS has long championed: Americans benefit when state and federal action empowers pharmacists to put the full range of their expertise to work for patients.
"This editorial is a clear, evidence-based affirmation of what NACDS and our partners have advanced for years: that empowering pharmacists to practice at the top of their education expands access to care, especially in the rural and underserved communities that need it most," said NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE. "We commend The Washington Post Editorial Board for elevating this conversation beyond a single state and making the case so plainly. We thank the Alaska Pharmacy Association for its outstanding leadership, we urge Governor Dunleavy to sign HB 195, and we call on policymakers on both the state and federal levels to seize this moment to modernize pharmacist scope of practice and bring care closer to the people they serve."
| READ THE EDITORIAL HERE |
