Alexandria (July 25, 2025) – The National Community Pharmacists Association today applauded legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) that would allow pharmacists to be reimbursed by Medicare Part B for testing and treating patients with COVID-19, flu, respiratory viruses, and strep throat.
Thune and Warner reintroduced the bill, called the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services (ECAPS) Act, yesterday. It has bipartisan support.
"This legislation protects patient access, especially for people in rural areas where pharmacists can be the only healthcare provider for many miles," said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. "Independent community pharmacists delivered tens of millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. They saved the lives of countless Americans who would not have gotten the vaccine without them. This legislation expands on that success."
NCPA strongly supports the legislation, and its counterpart in the House (H.R. 3164), which currently has a bipartisan list of 44 cosponsors. For more information about NCPA, please visit www.ncpa.org.
#####
