Category: Legislation

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending April 8, 2017

Medicare Pharmacy Choice and Access House Bill Introduced This Week: The Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act, H.R. 1939, was introduced by Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Peter Welch (D-VT) on April 5th. The bill would allow community pharmacies

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending April 1, 2017

Your Member of Congress is Coming Home for Two Weeks:  Consider this an opportunity to invite your member of Congress to visit your pharmacy between April 8 and April 22 and brief him or her about PBMs. Here are details:

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending March 25, 2017

Come Give Congress a Piece of Your Mind at the Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In April 26-27:  We are filling the halls of Congress April 26-27 with independent community pharmacies who are passionate about their patients and their practice and are tired

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending March 11, 2017

ACA Repeal Marked up in the House Committees of Jurisdiction: The House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees marked up their respective instructions to the Budget Committee on party line votes after exhaustive sessions in both committees this

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending March 4, 2017

Generic Drug Payment Bill Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives:  Bipartisan legislation to increase transparency in generic drug payments in taxpayer-funded federal health programs and preserve patient access to local community pharmacies was introduced in the House this week

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending February 25, 2017

NCPA Hosts DIR Stakeholder Call:  This week NCPA hosted a call with industry partners providing an update on recent developments regarding NCPA’s efforts on pharmacy DIR fees.  Highlights of the briefing: Overview of recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending February 18, 2017

House/Senate DIR Bills Introduced: This week, Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), along with 16 of their colleagues, introduced H.R. 1038, the “Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Drug Spending Act,” that would prohibit retroactive pharmacy

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending February 11, 2017

NCPA Responds to PBM Efforts to Limit Potential Reforms:  An apparently leaked memorandum has surfaced from Mark Merritt, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), to the association’s board of directors. It outlines PCMA’s strategies to mitigate

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending January 28, 2017

NCPA Supports House Bill Recognizing Pharmacists as Health Care Providers:  This week NCPA endorsed H.R. 592, the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act, which was introduced by U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending January 21, 2017

NCPA Members List Top 2017 Political Priorities:   For the fourth consecutive year, NCPA has asked its members to rank their most important legislative and regulatory priorities. The top issue chosen by respondents is to end the retroactive nature of DIR

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – SPECIAL ALERT – January 19, 2017

Hi all –NCPA is pleased to report that CMS released an analysis related to Part D DIR fees and the impact of these fees on the Part D program today.  The CMS analysis is an important step toward greater transparency

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending January 14, 2017

NCPA Asks President-elect Trump to Scrutinize Pharmacy Benefit Managers in Review of Prescription Drug Prices:  This week NCPA sent a letter to President-elect Donald J. Trump urging his Administration to examine the role pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in escalating

NCPA Advocacy Center Update – Week Ending December 24, 2016

DEA Revises Registrant Renewal Policy:  Heeding the concerns of NCPA and other registrants, the DEA has quickly revised a recently-issued policy change on renewal applications that could have decreased patient access to controlled substances and had audit implications for pharmacies. Starting

NCPA Advocacy Update – Week Ending October 1, 2016

Widespread Support for Ban on Part D Retroactive DIRs:  NCPA and nearly 100 other pharmacy stakeholder organizations have expressed their support to the key lawmakers behind legislation that would prohibit retroactive DIR pharmacy fees on Medicare Part D clean claims.

Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) – video

Please watch the attached video from healthNsight Animated Video healthNsight Animated Video 2

House Compounding Legislation Introduced

Bipartisan legislation that would preserve state board of pharmacy oversight of the vast majority of independent community pharmacies that compound medications was introduced in the House last week. H.R. 3089 is sponsored by Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.),

NCPA – Update on Federal Healthcare Reform Implementation/Medicaid Expansion

July 16, 2013 Delay of the Employer Mandate In early July, the Obama Administration announced a delay of the 2014 employer mandate that would require companies with more than 51 full-time workers to offer their employees health insurance or face

Bill to Expand Pharmacists’ Authority to Vaccinate Under Consideration in Pennsylvania Legislature

Pharmacists in Pennsylvania would be granted authority to vaccinate patients above the age of seven with a parent’s consent under two bills being considered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The bills would also allow pharmacy interns to vaccinate under the

NCPA Preview of 2014 CMS Final Call Letter

NCPA is pleased that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recognized and addressed in the final version of its “call letter” many of the egregious PBM practices that NCPA has alerted the agency to over the last several

Pharmacy Negotiations Bill Introduced

Independent community pharmacies could, under certain conditions, collectively negotiate the terms and conditions of insurance contracts they must sign with PBMs under a bill introduced by Reps. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.) last week. NCPA endorsed H.R. 1188, the Preserving Our Hometown Independent

White House and Congressional Leaders Continue Talks to Avoid Cliff and Sequesters:

Negotiations continue between the White House and Congressional Leaders to come to agreement on all the tax provisions that are set expire at the end of the year and efforts are also focused on avoiding the automatic sequesters cuts that

Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Members Announced:

As the new Congress continues to take shape, the Members of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee were announced:Chairman: Joe Pitts (PA), Vice Chairman: Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX), Ralph Hall (TX), Ed Whitfield (KY), John Shimkus (IL), Mike Rogers (MI), Tim Murphy

NCPA Sends Letter to Defense Conference Committee on TRICARE Co-Pays:

 On Friday, NCPA sent a letter to leaders on the House and Senate Armed Services Committee expressing our views on provisions in the defense bill that pertain to the TRICARE pharmacy program.  The letter expresses our strong concerns about the

2013 Health Care Reform Provisions Affecting Small Businesses:

 Many sections of the health care reform law are set to be implemented in 2013.  Of note to community pharmacy is the elimination of the deduction that employers receive when offering Part D coverage to employees.  It is also worth

Federal Legislation on Drug Compounding Introduced:

 Congresswoman DeLauro (D-CT) and Congresswoman Lowey (D-NY) introduced legislation on drug compounding this week. Among other provisions, the Supporting Access to Formulated and Effective Compounded Drugs Act of 2012 would: ·     Notice to Patient:  Require pharmacists to confirm with the patient that they are

OPM’s Multi-State Plan Rule Released

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued a proposed rule to implement the Multi-State Plan Program (MSPP) pursuant to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Through contracts with OPM, health insurance issuers will offer at least two multi-state plans

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