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ARLINGTON, Va. — In just over two weeks, pharmacy advocates from all 50 states will travel to Washington, D.C. for NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill.
Steven Anderson
With direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fee reform headlining the agenda, this event will make a powerful statement to the Trump Administration and to Congress about the crucial need for DIR fee reform.
Advocates – many in their white pharmacist coats – will make the case that this reform is necessary right now:
- to reduce patients’ out-of-pocket drug costs,
- to reduce overall healthcare costs as a result of enhanced medication adherence, and
- to advance the viability of pharmacies by reversing an absolutely unsustainable reimbursement situation.
Given the vital importance of this issue, NACDS chain members are engaging at record levels. More than half of all NACDS chain member companies will send representatives to NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill – a new high. In addition, this year’s event will set a new high-water mark for companies participating for the first time. We will welcome nine new companies.
The stage is set to send an unmistakable message that the Department of Health and Human Services was right to propose DIR fee reform in the “Modernizing Part D and Medicare Advantage to Lower Drug Prices and Reduce Out-of-Pocket Expenses” proposed rule, and that it should be included in the final rule.
A poll conducted by Morning Consult in January and commissioned by NACDS found that 86 percent of registered voters support pharmacists using their expertise to build on 2018’s “gag-clause” prevention law and identify other ways to lower patients’ costs.
That is exactly what pharmacy advocates will be doing in Washington, D.C. during NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill. Please join us.
Steven Anderson is the president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
