Turn Up the Heat on Your Member of Congress in August

Congress’ August in-district work period is just weeks away, and that is an opportune time to invite them to visit your pharmacy. There’s no better way for them to see what you do and how important your pharmacy is to the community you serve. We’re asking all community and LTC pharmacists to participate in our Month of Action and turn up the heat on our elected officials.

If you missed this week’s webinar, Turn Up the Heat: NCPA’s Guide to Grassroots Action, sponsored by RxSafe, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, and Value Drug Company, you can view it here. Please let us know of your interest in participating by completing this interest form or by emailing Michael Rule. August schedules for members of Congress are already coming together so it is important that you send your invitation before July 15.

CMS Reverses Itself and Disapproves Washington State
Plan Amendment that Under Reimbursed Pharmacies

NCPA, along with the Washington State Pharmacy Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores are applauding a critical decision by CMS reversing an earlier approval of a Washington State Medicaid state plan amendment that unfairly reimbursed pharmacies and was approved on the last day of the Trump Administration. The recent move will help maintain reliable patient access to care and pharmacy viability in Washington. WSPA, NCPA and NACDS sued CMS over the last minute approval of the amendment by the Trump Administration, accusing CMS of violating its own rules. As a result, the Department of Justice — which represented CMS in the case — filed a motion to remand the matter back to CMS, agreeing with the pharmacy groups that the final decision approving the Washington State Plan Amendment was unsupported by the administrative record before CMS and would not survive the legal challenge.

NCPA Members Meet with Senate Pharmacy Champions

This week, several pharmacy owners met with Congressional pharmacy champions. In Washington State, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and lead sponsor of S. 4293 the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2022, held an event attended by several pharmacists on the subject of prescription drug prices. S. 4293 was recently passed out of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and advanced to the full Senate. In Iowa, Jeff Olson, owner of Montross Pharmacy in Winterset hosted a staff member for Sen. Charles Grassley in his pharmacy. Grassley is a longtime pharmacy supporter, and the lead cosponsor of S. 4293.

Community Pharmacy Supports Rep. Peter Welch’s
Senate Campaign

This week, Karry La Violette, NCPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and NCPA member Jeff Hochberg attended an event in Burlington, Vt. in support of Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) who is running for the Senate this year. Welch is a long-time supporter of community pharmacy, including leading legislative efforts on pharmacy DIR reform and expanding access to community pharmacies in Medicare Part D.

Express Scripts Sued Over Alleged “Refill Pill Mill” Scheme

Express Scripts is facing a lawsuit under the False Claims Act on charges that it delivered pointless prescribed drugs to military personnel, bilking the federal authorities and distributors out of billions of dollars. A whistleblower claims the company’s software was allegedly set up to refill 90-day prescriptions on day 60, which means that every Tricare beneficiary obtained 73 percent more tablets than prescribed over the course of 12 months. The suit was filed in a California federal courtroom in mid-2019 and unsealed recently. Express Scripts inflated drug prices for payers and patients via its “refill pill mill” that systematically overcharged the Tricare program for treatment from October 2009 to March 2018, the suit alleges. NCPA has spoken out for years against mail-order pharmacy for many reasons, not the least of which is the waste it produces. Here’s a link to our Waste Not, Want Not document showing examples of this needless waste. If you have a photo to add, send it to Michael Rule.

California Forgives $142 Million in Medi-Cal Clawbacks

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the state budget, including a provision that forgives $142 million in Medi-Cal clawbacks from independent pharmacies in the state. The clawbacks were the result of California’s retroactive adoption of NADAC in its Medicaid program and would have had devastating impacts for pharmacies across the state.

FDA Proposes New Requirements for Nonprescription Drugs

The FDA issued a proposed rule to establish requirements for a nonprescription drug product with an additional condition for nonprescription use (ACNU), which might include a questionnaire administered via a website, a mobile application, or a display screen at a pharmacy kiosk. The proposed rule, if finalized, would establish additional application requirements, labeling requirements, and post-marketing reporting requirements that an applicant must implement to ensure appropriate self-selection or appropriate actual use, or both, by consumers without the supervision of a health care practitioner. Comments are due to FDA by Oct. 26, and NCPA plans to comment.

GAO Report Includes Pandemic Early Detection and
Response Systems in Pharmacies

The GAO recently issued a report based on a survey sent to 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories (hereinafter collectively referred to as states), with 43 states responding. The survey was administered to solicit state officials’ views on any COVID-19 challenges that they faced and lessons they have learned that could inform HHS’ work to develop and implement a nationwide public health situational awareness and biosurveillance network. Additionally, GAO interviewed NCPA and other groups for this report.

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.