NCPA Tells DOJ and FTC to Change Merger Guidelines

This week, NCPA submitted comments in response to the FTC and DOJ’s Request for Information to help modernize their merger guidelines. NCPA strongly encouraged the agencies to amend the guidelines to bring all health care consolidation into focus. NCPA argued that agencies should no longer focus on price effects alone in mergers and should focus on quality, choice, and lower costs. Clearer and more inclusive guidelines would have protected competition and consumers from harm from unchallenged mergers such as Aetna-CVS/Caremark, Cigna/Express Scripts, and Optum/Catamaran to name a few. View NCPA’s press release here.

NCPA and State Pharmacy Associations Provide Comments
to NAIC Regarding Rutledge Analysis

In a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, NCPA and 41 state pharmacy associations called on the organization to create accurate education material regarding the U.S. Supreme Court Rutledge decision. NAIC is analyzing the decision for the benefit of its members, who are tasked with enforcing PBM regulations in the states. NCPA and the state associations urged NAIC to ensure the educational materials make clear that the ruling has implications for all 50 states and U.S. territories, not just Arkansas, which was the subject of the lawsuit.

Pharmacy Groups Share Concerns with New COVID-19 Czar

This week, NCPA, along with 12 other pharmacy stakeholders, sent a letter to Dr. Ashish Jha, the Biden administration’s new COVID-19 czar. The letter congratulated him on his appointment and highlighted some of the key threats to the continued engagement of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in COVID-19 response. These include a limited ability to engage in COVID-19 testing and the subsequent dispensing of oral antivirals (“test-to-treat”) due to FDA limitations; reimbursement for testing, vaccination, and treatment of uninsured patients; and maintaining and reimbursing PREP Act services provided by pharmacists, which should remain in place until Oct. 1, 2024.

Pharmacist Justin Ruffridge Jumps
into Alaska State House Race

Pharmacist Justin Ruffridge, owner of Soldotna Professional Pharmacy in Soldotna, Alaska is running to replace State Rep. Ron Gillham (R) in State House District 7. Ruffridge is currently a Council member for the city of Soldotna and the Chair of the Alaska Board of Pharmacy. Presently, Gillham and Ruffridge are the only two registered candidates for the primary race which will be held on August 16th. Alaska recently adopted a nonpartisan top four primary system, where the top four vote getters advance to the General election, regardless of political affiliation. To learn more about Ruffridge’s campaign click here.

NCPA Touts Community Pharmacy Services
in Comments to CMS

In response to a CMS request for comments related to access and coverage for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. NCPA’s comments highlighted independent pharmacy as an answer to increasing access to care through areas beyond dispensing: tobacco cessation, birth control prescribing, chronic care management, PEP and PrEP services, etc. The comments also described the geographical diversity and benefit that independent community pharmacies provide in rural and urban communities, which is a centerpiece in the USC-NCPA Pharmacy Access Initiative’s current work.

NCPA Submits Comments on OSHA Proposal

This week, NCPA submitted comments on the recent reopening of comment by the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) regarding Occupational Exposure to COVID–19 in Healthcare Settings. In the proposal, OSHA makes several changes to the existing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) which was in place in 2021, including removing several exceptions which might impact retail pharmacy. NCPA opposes the removal of these exceptions but does support the move of OSHA towards a more flexible standard which is compatible with other existing governing standards such as the CDC. OSHA is currently scheduled to hold a public hearing on April 27th to discuss stakeholder feedback and NCPA will continue to advocate for the best regulatory environment to permit community pharmacy to serve their patients.

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.

FDA Proposing New Methods for Opioid Disposal

This week, the FDA published a notice and request for comments on requiring prepaid mail-back envelopes and safe disposal education with opioid analgesics dispensed in an outpatient setting. This proposal, if finalized, will modify the existing Opioid Analgesic Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy to provide patients with an additional disposal option beyond those already available such as flushing, commercially available in-home disposal products, collection kiosks, and takeback events. NCPA will be submitting comments, which are due on June 21. See FDA’s press release here.

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.