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WASHINGTON – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) is calling on the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to continue its efforts to advance policies that reduce patients’ prescription drug costs, protect pharmacy viability and enhance patients’ access to pharmacy services. NACDS submitted the comments in advance of today’s Subcommittee hearing, titled “Health Care Spending in the United States: Unsustainable for Patients, Employers, and Taxpayers.”
Notably, the NACDS letter urges the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to enact PBM reforms in Medicare and Medicaid, such as those included in Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) and measures advanced through the Senate Finance Committee; to enact federal provider status legislation, the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 1770/S. 2477), which would establish Medicare Part B reimbursement for essential pharmacist services; and to include community pharmacies in innovative healthcare models across public and private payers to lower healthcare costs, especially in the design and implementation of value-based care models.
On PBM reform, NACDS said: “While the nation’s largest PBMs are working to run out the clock on real legislative reform, NACDS urges Congress to finish the job and swiftly enact bipartisan Medicare Part D and Medicaid PBM reforms. The reforms that have been the subject of extensive Congressional examination and bipartisan agreement will significantly mitigate the effects of rapidly deteriorating Medicare Part D pharmacy reimbursements that, as of January 2024, are taking many pharmacies even further below cost for the prescriptions that they fill every day. This untenable situation of decreasing reimbursement combined with lingering pharmacy DIR fees is putting patient access and pharmacies in jeopardy and leading to higher healthcare costs for patients.”
On patient access to pharmacist services, NACDS said: “Congress can help the nation achieve a healthier and more sustainable healthcare system, prioritizing access, outcomes, and value by supporting the successful passage of Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act and the Subcommittee should consider opportunities to support access to pharmacist services across commercial health plans as well. Throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency, pharmacies were a trusted, equitable provider of vaccinations, tests, and antivirals, providing – as of July 2023 – more than 307 million COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to more than 42 million tests, and dispensing more than 8 million antiviral courses. Those figures only have increased since that time – with COVID-19 vaccinations in pharmacies now exceeding 320 million.”
On innovative healthcare models, NACDS said: “Pharmacists are well positioned to help address a wide variety of quality measures by optimizing medication use, improving uptake of preventive care, like screenings and vaccinations, and supporting improvements in chronic disease control … The Subcommittee should act on opportunities to improve outcomes, advance access, and reduce preventable healthcare spending by leveraging community pharmacies in innovative healthcare models across public and private payers. Doing so would not only strengthen development of innovative care models, but would also support needed advancements in healthcare access, including in rural areas, in addition to healthcare technology and data interoperability.”
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