NACDS releases state-by-state data underscoring Americans’ support for access to pharmacist-provided care

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) has made available state-by-state data sheets demonstrating U.S. adults’ strong support for pharmacist-provided services — and for continued and permanent pharmacy access to vaccinations, testing, and treatment for common conditions. The newly released one-pagers — for each of the 50 states, Washington, DC, and nationally — reflect the results of a nationwide poll conducted by Morning Consult and commissioned by NACDS.

This work contributes to NACDS’ vision for the future of retail health sustainability, innovation, and reimbursement models.

At the national level, 81% of adults in the U.S. believe it is important for their state to update its policies to ensure that patients permanently have the same access to pharmacy vaccination, testing, and treatment services that were available during COVID-19. Additionally, 85% of adults in the U.S. say pharmacists are easy to access, the highest percentage of the tested options.

Importantly, adults in the U.S. also want to see pharmacists reimbursed by insurers for providing care: 71% support private and government insurers adequately paying pharmacists for testing and initiating treatment in states where pharmacists are authorized to do so.

NACDS’ advocacy in this space spans both levels of government.

At the federal level, NACDS continues to urge the U.S. Congress to pass and enact Medicare legislation, the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 1770/S. 2477) — so that America’s seniors maintain access to testing, treatment, and vaccination services at the pharmacy. At the state level, NACDS continues to urge state governments to write into state laws and regulations, without delay, the pharmacy provisions of the federal “PREP Act” that delivered essential pharmacy access during COVID-19.

Check out what U.S. adults are saying in the states on NACDS’ Access Agenda and below:

These state-by-state data sheets reflect the results of a nationwide poll conducted online from October 25-30, 2023 among a sample of 10,031 adults. The poll was conducted by Morning Consult and commissioned by NACDS. State-level results are estimated by a multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) model weighted by age, race/ethnicity, gender, and educational attainment within each state. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage points.