NCPA President Michele Belcher Presents
at Joint DOJ and FTC Listening Session
This week, NCPA President Michele Belcher, owner of Grants Pass Pharmacy in Grants Pass, Ore., presented at the Federal Trade Commission-Department of Justice online listening forum on effects of mergers and acquisitions. In her comments, Belcher described to FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, and others how pharmacy benefit managers’ take-it-or-leave-it contracts with independent pharmacies lead to patient harms including higher costs and restricted access to care. During her remarks Belcher said that vertical consolidation in the pharmacy industry has created a perverse environment where one competitor sets another competitor’s prices, dictates their competitors’ reimbursements, uses their competitors’ data to steer patients to their own stores, and limits where and what consumers can buy. Click here for video on the forum and here for Belcher’s prepared remarks.
Senators Urge OMB to Lower
Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors
This week, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.), sent a letterurging the Office of Management and Budget to move forward quickly with review of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ proposed rule to lower out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors by bringing so-called pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration fees under control. The senators are urging OMB to review this rule so that these important reforms can be implemented as quickly as possible.
HHS Secretary Renews PHE, Extends 90 Days
This week, Secretary Becerra renewed the Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 for an additional 90 days from April 16, 2022. This means the authorities for telehealth, certain waivers of requirements, state support, and Medicaid coverage will extend into July. This move was expected as the Secretary has promised to notify state officials 60 days before the termination of the emergency, which would have occurred by February 15. However, HHS and CMS have begun to wind down certain flexibilities and relaxation of requirements for SNF and other LTC facilities. NCPA will continue to advocate for the permanent adoption of PHE flexibilities which enhance the practice of pharmacy.
Share Your Examples of PBM Harms with the FTC
The FTC is seeking examples of patient and consumer harm caused by PBMs. Please take a few moments and share your examples of patient harms with the FTC, using this template as a guide. It is important that you personalize this with your own examples and let the FTC know how your patients will continue to be harmed if PBMs are not addressed and be sure to remove anything from the template that may not pertain to you. Once your comment is ready, you can submit it here. Comments are due by May 25th.
NCPA PAC Hosts Meet and Greet for NCPA Member
and Congressional Candidate Chris Schiller
This week, NCPA PAC hosted a Meet and Greet for NCPA member Chris Schiller with Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.). Schiller is running to represent Oklahoma's Second Congressional District where Representative Markwayne Mullin (R) is vacating his seat to run for the Senate. If you were unable to attend the webinar, there is still a chance for you to support pharmacy leadership! The Oklahoma primary is on June 28th, and it takes a lot of money to run a congressional campaign. Every dollar makes a significant difference in helping Schiller win this seat. You can contribute to Schiller’s campaign here. And spread the word to your friends and colleagues about his campaign! You can learn more about Schiller on his website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
Invite Your Legislator for a Visit
During the Congressional Recess
Congress is currently scheduled to be in recess through April 25. This is an ideal time to invite your member of Congress to tour your pharmacy and give them a first-hand look at the crucial role you play in your community’s health care system, build relationships, and promote pro-pharmacy and pro-patient legislation. Click here for tips on scheduling a pharmacy visit or contact Michael Rule at mrule@ncpa.org for assistance. The next scheduled recess is May 27-June 6.
Encourage your Patients to Fight Back
against PBM Abuses
NCPA has a toolkit of resources available to engage your patients and encourage them to participate in Fight4Rx. Fight4Rx is NCPA’s patient focused initiative to help educate them on the role PBMs play in the affordability and access of prescription drugs and to help them fight back by engaging Congress and the administration. They can also engage with Fight4Rx through Facebookand Twitter, but the easiest way for them to take action is to text Fight4Rx to 52886.
NCPA Supports Vermont PBM Bill
NCPA submitted comments in support of Vermont H. 353. The PBM bill would address conflicts of interest, such as patient steering. In its comments, NCPA urged lawmakers to support the bill and to reinsert reimbursement transparency provisions that were removed by the House during the committee process. The bill was heard this week by the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare.
Kansas PBM Licensure Bill Signed into Law
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) signed SB 28 into law. The bill requires PBMs to become licensed with the state and increases the insurance commissioner’s enforcement authority over PBMs.
NCPA Applauds Passage of Bills Expanding
the Scope of Practice in Maryland
NCPA applauds the Maryland General Assembly for two bills that passed both the House and Senate: House Bill 229 and Senate Bill 62. HB 229 authorizes pharmacists to administer injectable medications that treat sexually transmitted infections and mandates coverage to the same extent for those services furnished by any other licensed health care practitioner. SB 62 expands pharmacist scope of practice by including the prescribing and dispensing of “nicotine replacement therapy medication” to aid in tobacco or smoking cessation. Both bills will be sent to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for his signature.
Virginia Bill Concerning Pharmacy Work Requirements
Becomes Law
House Bill 1324 became law after approval from the both the Virginia House and Senate and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) taking no action. HB 1324 directs the state Board of Pharmacy to adopt regulations related to workplace safety that protects the health and safety of patients. NCPA has emphasized the importance of work requirements within pharmacies to protect both patients and staff.
FDA Releases Final Animal GFI
Earlier this month, the FDA issued a final guidance, “Compounding Animal Drugs from Bulk Drug Substances,” which impacts veterinarians and licensed compounding pharmacies for both food-producing, non-food producing animals, and free-range wildlife. This is a final version which has been in development by the agency for a significant period of time. The FDA recognizes that this final guidance covers a wide range of stakeholders and plans to focus on education and stakeholder engagement for a long period of time before shifting resources toward inspectional activities in Fiscal Year 2023 – allowing impacted stakeholders to comply. NCPA will work to analyze the impacts of this final guidance for our compounding membership.
NCPA State Legislative Activity Update
NCPA tracks state legislation related to our top three state priorities: Medicaid reform, scope of practice and compensation for services, and PBM reform and regulation. Click each issue for a report of bills that have been introduced so far this session specifically dealing with these three issue areas. You can access the individual bill language and basic information on the bill by clicking on the bill numbers in the attached report. Bills that have moved this week are listed at the top in the “Recently Updated” section.
NCPA’s Advocacy Center Update provides a weekly detailed summary of recent and breaking legislative, regulatory, and state developments impacting independent community pharmacy and NCPA’s efforts to affect policies benefitting its membership and the industry. The weekly update is distributed to NCPA leadership, steering committees, allied organizations/stakeholders and major contributors to the NCPA LDF and PAC. The weekly update is intended exclusively for the recipient and is not for external distribution.