In this column for Chain Drug News, NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey takes a look at recent developments affecting community pharmacy and notes that he sees momentum. “Day to day, it can feel like the littler things — changing your oil, rotating the tires, sending your thoughts to policy makers when NCPA or others ask you to, inviting them for a pharmacy visit — may be unnecessary or something you can delay. The FTC digging deeper into PBM practices says otherwise. We are where we are today with CMS, with the FTC, with Congress, and in the states because enough pharmacists and patients kept sharing their stories and concerns. The consistent, repetitive advocacy is making it so these policy makers can no longer look away or put off doing this work.
“There is still a long way to go until pharmacy is in a position to see the checkered flag. But progress toward NCPA’s top priority of changing the pharmacy payment model has been made this past year. Pharmacy still needs Medicare reform and to be paid fairly for patient care services and dispensing services. But the results are accelerating. We will keep on trucking.”
Read the full column here.
