The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a long-standing legal principle known as the Chevron doctrine, which curbs the ability of regulatory agencies to interpret the statutes they must enforce. The implications for pharmacy are not yet clear and it will likely take years to determine. At issue is whether courts must defer to regulatory agencies, as they have for the past four decades, to interpret vaguely written laws. The Supreme Court ruled that only the judiciary, and not the executive branch, is empowered by the Constitution to interpret laws.
What does it mean for NCPA’s advocacy agenda? Nothing in the near term. In fact, we are pushing full-steam-ahead for Congress to pass our top priorities this year. One of those priorities would require that pharmacies are paid NADAC-plus in Medicaid managed care programs. The other would require CMS to define and enforce reasonable and relevant contract terms under Medicare Part D. The PBMs will fight these reforms regardless of this week’s decision, so it’s vitally important to finish the fight. That’s the campaign we’ve been telling you about, and we need you to get involved if you haven’t already. You can donate to our Legislative/Legal Defense Fund, which finances all our advocacy efforts. And you can go to the campaign page and download fliers, posters, social media advertising, and our videos to share with your customers and local legislators.
In the meantime, we will update you on future developments on the legal and regulatory fronts.
