Last week in an editorial in the Washington Reporter, NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey welcomed the appointment of Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) as the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, arguing that now is an opportune time to get PBM reform legislation passed this year. Guthrie is a strong supporter of PBM reform and appointed Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), a pharmacist and NCPA ally, as head of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.
In the piece, Hoey notes the importance of community pharmacies in the areas they serve:
"They provide the kind of access to patient care that mail-order and big box pharmacies don't, and they are constantly innovating to improve health outcomes and increase efficiency. Home delivery, immunizations, point-of-care testing, diabetes management, and simply being available to answer questions or provide advice to patients trying to decipher their on-line searches make them competitive in the marketplace and essential to their patients.
We're grateful for Guthrie's strong support, and we are very excited to work with him and his committee this year to pass PBM reform. Competition is being throttled, drug costs are rising, pharmacies are closing, and their patients are being stranded."
To read the column, click here.
