NCPA Co-Hosts Principles for Patient-Centered Prescription Drug Coverage Forum: Greater oversight and transparency of pharmacy benefit managers’ actions will help to lessen the amount of control they wield over what medicines people can use, what they pay, and where they get their prescriptions filled. That’s one of the outcomes from a forum held this week in Washington, D.C. on patients’ access to and cost of prescription drug coverage. Representatives from health care and patient-focused advocacy organizations heard from several industry experts about how PBMs’ actions are driving up drug costs for patients, payers, and pharmacies. Forum speakers, including NCPA CEO Doug Hoey, also discussed alternatives to traditional PBMs to provide drug benefits and models that leverage community pharmacies’ abilities to improve patient health and adherence. NCPA cohosted the Forum with the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. It was sponsored by Georgia Pharmacy Association’s Academy of Independent Pharmacy, RxPlus Pharmacies, and Smith Drug Company / Burlington Drug Company / HealthWise Pharmacy.
NCPA Members Present at Congressional Briefing on Compounding: Cheri Garvin, RPh, CEO of The Compounding Center in Leesburg, Va., represented NCPA this week as part of a panel at a congressional briefing discussing the importance of patient access to compounded medications. Garvin, along with NCPA members Shawn Hodges, PharmD, A.J. Day, PharmD, and other panelists, which included a dermatologist, shared patient stories, talked about H.R. 2871, The Preserving Patient Access to Compounded Medications Act of 2017, and patient access issues since the enactment of the DSQA. The briefing was hosted by the DQSA Coalition.
NCPA Supports Death Tax Repeal: This week the Family Business Coalition sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, and House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady, encouraging Congress to repeal the death tax as a component of comprehensive tax reform. NCPA joined more than 150 trade associations and advocacy organizations in signing the letter, which detailed the punitive nature of the tax.
Senate Reaches Deal on CHIP: This week Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon reached a deal on a plan to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years. The current appropriation runs out at the end of this month, and many states will exhaust their allotments of federal money later this year or early next year. There’s no text of the proposal yet and House Republicans have expressed a desire to extend the program for five years as well, but have not worked out the details of their legislation.
Walden Announces Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing to Address Opioid Crisis: This week House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) announced that he’ll hold a full committee hearing – the first of this Congress – on the epidemic the week of October 23. The purpose of the hearing is to get an update on the implementation of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and hear directly from agency officials who are leading the efforts to fight the epidemic at the federal level.
NCPA Meets with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to Discuss Pharmacist Provider Status: This week NCPA attended a meeting with Mr. John Brooks, Health Policy Counselor to HHS Secretary Tom Price, to discuss the importance of pharmacist provider status along with other members of the Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition (PAPCC) steering committee. We had the opportunity to discuss the importance of patient access to rural pharmacy services, where oftentimes an independent pharmacy is the sole provider in the community. NCPA will continue to work with PAPCC members to urge passage of H.R. 592/S. 109, which is now up to 207 cosponsors in the House and 44 in the Senate.
Hurricane Resources Update: The Surescripts-Allscripts partnership to provide pharmacists in hurricane impacted areas access to patient-specific medication history data has now been expanded to include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina for a limited time. With a 12-month view of a patient’s medication history information, pharmacists can limit adverse drug events and avoid errors, particularly when treating patients who have been displaced and may not have their prescription information available. To access the service, follow the steps listed here. Also, you can help pharmacies that have sustained hurricane damage. Donate to the NCPA Foundation’s Disaster Fund today. Every penny donated goes to affected pharmacies.
