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NEW YORK — As the dust settles around the results of the midterm congressional elections, the legislative outlook that emerges from analyzing the results is one that appears favorable to pharmacy even as several key supporters of the industry were defeated in their bids for reelection.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ bipartisan Political Action Committee reported that the “winning percentage” for candidates it supported in midterm races stood at 86% in the Senate and 93% in the House of Representatives.
The NACDS-PAC contributed to 25 Senate races (of the 36 that were contested) and to 107 candidates running for seats in the House. Of those contests where it contributed, NACDS-PAC-supported candidates won 99 of the races for the House (one race was still undecided as of mid-November) and 19 spots in the Senate (with three of the races still undecided).
“The NACDS-PAC winning percentage proved strong, a remarkable feat, given that many are ascribing the term ‘wave election’ to [the] outcome,” said NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson. “It is often the case that a PAC will support incumbent members of Congress who have demonstrated strong support for particular issues, only to see a significant number of those individuals lose reelection.”
Overall, more than 60 newly elected members of Congress will take office in January in the House and Senate. As control of the Senate moves to the Republican side of the aisle in the Senate, there also will be changes to the committee leadership structure, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R, Ky.), who easily won reelection after a hard-fought race, will become the new Senate majority leader.
Also in the Senate, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R, Utah), who has long been a supporter of issues important to pharmacy, is expected to become chairman of the Finance Committee, while Sen. Lamar Alexander (R, Tenn.) becomes chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Another important result of the election was the victory in Georgia of Republican Buddy Carter, who was elected to the House of Representatives with a lopsided 61% of the vote. He will become the only pharmacist and pharmacy owner serving in Congress.
“Having a pharmacist in Congress will give a voice to pro-pharmacy issues, which is especially relevant now as NACDS-backed, bipartisan provider status legislation (H.R. 4190) has garnered more than 100 cosponsors in the House of Representatives so far,” Anderson noted. “The legislation would increase patient access to health care by allowing pharmacists to serve in medically underserved communities under Medicare.”
NACDS also noted that Sen. Pat Roberts (R, Kan.), a pharmacy champion, won reelection, as did Rep. Fred Upton (R, Mich.), who has “demonstrated tremendous leadership on issues such as the Drug Quality and Security Act.”
However, two notable champions of pharmacy came up short in their bids for reelection: Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, the original Senate sponsor of the Medication Therapy Management Empowerment Act, lost in North Carolina, and Sen. Mark Pryor (D, Ark.), a leader on pharmacy issues, lost to a challenger in Arkansas.
The results also are likely to lead to new battles around the Affordable Care Act, driven, in part, by the many new Republicans elected to Congress who had pledged during their campaigns to seek an overhaul of the massive health care legislation.
Faced with likely challenges to the legislation in 2015, President Obama has stated that he would be “open and receptive” to any Republican-proposed efforts to improve the ACA program, but that he would oppose any efforts that “undermine the structure of the law.”
