Last week, the House and Senate passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act conference report, which reflects a compromise after both chambers passed their own bills earlier this year. Included in the NDAA is a requirement for the Comptroller General to review the Tricare Pharmacy Benefits Program, including the recently awarded nationwide pharmacy contract to Express Scripts and its effect on Tricare beneficiaries’ ability to obtain the medications they need in a timely manner. This provision is the outcome of advocacy efforts by NCPA and its members last year, which you can review here, expressing outrage over the ESI contract, which resulted in letters from hundreds of Members of Congress to the Pentagon raising concerns about the problems the contract created for patient access to local community pharmacies. The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
NCPA
