Dear Colleague,
On the first day of our recent Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In, a member from rural Kansas told Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) that he comes from a place where only two pharmacies are left to serve people who live along a 145-mile stretch of highway. The rest are gone, forced out of business by the PBMs, and all the farmers, ranchers, mechanics, teachers, store owners, and families in the area were running out of health care providers.
"I've been coming here since 2007 and saying the same thing. Now I'm just grumpy and old. You have to get this done this year," he said.
Grumpy is about how I'd describe a lot of the country when it comes to Congress (both parties) these days. And independent pharmacists have good reason to be impatient. Bipartisan majorities in both houses support PBM reform. Last year the bills we support passed out of the House and made it into the year-end spending bill. Then, poof. One single Dopey post on X blew up the whole thing (which had nothing to do with PBM reform).
Carter, who is also an independent pharmacist, explained why he thinks our priorities will be passed this year. He said support in both houses is just as strong, and President Trump wants to "cut out the middlemen," which he has said multiple times this year. He also reminded everyone in the room not to be Sleepy or Bashful in advocating for themselves. In fact, he said every member of Congress needs to hear examples like the member from Kansas shared. Well, they sure did.
Throughout both days of the fly-in, members of Congress who met with NCPA members got the message loud and clear. They all acknowledged the importance of community pharmacies. I can remember a time when most members of Congress couldn't spell PBM. They had never heard of these middlemen who were increasing the costs of prescription drugs for consumers and systematically eliminating their competition through anticompetitive business practice. That certainly wasn't the case this year! Oftentimes, the member of Congress was bringing up the problems with PBMs to start the meeting. Additionally, there was strong interest in legislation that would allow pharmacists to bill for some services in Medicare Part B—the holy grail for allowing patients to benefit from pharmacists practicing at the top of their license.
The truth is that we're close, tantalizingly close to reform in Washington. And we're having historic success in the states. Just last month, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a new law barring owning pharmacies and operating PBMs in the state. We were very proud to support all the hard work by the Arkansas Pharmacists Association that led to the historic victory. Also in April, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed the Community Pharmacy Relief Act, which cracks down on the absurdly low commercial reimbursements that are putting independent pharmacies out of business. Both new laws are models for the rest of the country.
I would like to thank all the members who made the Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In a success this year (we sold out weeks before the event). There was nothing Bashful about the way you advocated for your business and for your colleagues who didn't make the trip. For those of you who couldn't attend, stay tuned for our grassroots alerts and activities. We are planning another Month of Action this summer, when you'll get another chance to make your voice heard.
Best,
B. Douglas Hoey, Pharmacist, MBA
NCPA CEO
