Dear Colleague,
The holidays are a time for "Peace on Earth. Good will to man." Well, here in D.C., Republicans and Democrats missed that message and are still quarreling over just about everything. Needless to say, the mood inside the Beltway isn't very festive.
PBM reform is one of the very few things that both sides seem to agree on and momentum appears to be growing. Last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced bipartisan legislation that includes our top priorities for this legislative session: Medicaid managed care reform that includes a fair reimbursement for pharmacies; and a mandate requiring CMS to develop and enforce reasonable and relevant contract terms for Medicare Part D.
Importantly, while this legislation may be newly introduced, it's not new legislation. It's been put through the usual congressional sausage grinder — introduction, committee hearings, mark-up, committee votes. It's in the vast minority of legislation that has made it through all of those turns of the crank. In addition to the relevant committees, the House actually voted and passed the legislation last year. In other words, the legislation is ready to go. It just needs the final bow put on it by Congress and the president.
You might remember that these provisions were included in the end-of-year spending deal that fell apart last December (Elon Musk played the Grinch and derailed it in the 11th hour with a post on X). There's a strong chance they could be included in another funding bill in January, or maybe even a stand-alone health care package.
To pull out every stop to help get PBM reform passed, we revved up the Finish the Fight campaign this month. Last year our campaign generated more than 80,000 letters from patients to Congress, urging them to pass the reforms. With a brand-new video ad, the campaign has generated more than 3,000 new patient letters just in the last two weeks!
If you want to get involved, you can go to the campaign website and download digital display ads for your own social media, printable display ads for your store, and any of the videos that you can share on social media or play for your patients on monitors in your pharmacy.
These reforms are the best chance to get something done in the near future. But there are more good reforms that have launched their journey toward passage. Yesterday we joined other pharmacy advocates at a press conference by Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) to support their bills (HR 6609 and HR 6610), the Pharmacists Fight Back Act. The legislation includes provisions that NCPA strongly supports, and for which NCPA has been advocating for many years. They include fair and transparent reimbursement, pass-through of rebates, and a ban on patient steering. Those provisions will begin the process through committees starting next year and NCPA will use its influence to support them at each step.
As you know by now, things in Washington can change quickly this time of year. There's a lot of back-room negotiations and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, but we see a number of positive indications that our top priorities will be in the mix. You can keep up with the action by following NCPA on social media @commpharmacy. Note: Our morning newsletter, qAM, will be on hiatus over the holidays, but if anything important develops during that time, we will send you a member alert with everything we know.
In the meantime, I would like to thank you for all your support. NCPA is a true grassroots organization, and none of the progress we've made would be possible without your activism. On behalf of the entire NCPA team, I would like to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season.
Best,
B. Douglas Hoey, Pharmacist, MBA
NCPA CEO
