As key panel targets healthcare costs, NACDS calls PBM reform a “win ready for the taking,” also promotes bill to boost Medicare pharmacy services.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) submitted a statement for the record to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance for that panel's November 19 hearing on "The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans." The statement underscores the urgent need for pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform to lower drug costs and to ease pharmacy closures, and it presses for passage of the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (S. 2426/H.R. 3164) to expand timely care for seniors.

Acknowledging clear differences between the political parties on many healthcare issues, NACDS noted the unity around PBM reform. NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson wrote, "This statement centers on an issue of non-partisan clarity: a problem and a solution made completely obvious by this Committee's diligence - and by that of many others. The problem is the harmful, self-enriching tactics of PBM middlemen. The solution is a package of long-overdue reforms that is ready to deliver for the American people."

Anderson continued, "Every day without federal PBM reform is a day that the American people lose out - through inflated out-of-pocket costs and diminished access to their trusted, local pharmacies." He said that Congress has forged a "win ready for the taking," a package of long-overdue reforms crafted with strong support across parties and across Congressional committees and leadership.

The NACDS statement also blasted continued efforts by PBMs to urge further delay in government action and to allow PBMs to undo their tactics on their own. "It is imperative to reject the notion that voluntary 'self-regulation' is an acceptable alternative to enforceable reform," Anderson said, adding, "Self-policing by PBMs is not a solution - it is a stall."

To achieve the Committee's goal of advancing solutions for affordable and high-quality care, NACDS also urges action on the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacy Services Act. The bill would enable Medicare beneficiaries to receive pharmacist-provided testing and treatment for certain respiratory conditions, in states that already authorize pharmacists to perform these services.

As a result, the bill would:

• improve access to timely care, reducing delays that worsen outcomes and drive up costs;
• increase system efficiency by offering a cost-effective care option, easing bottlenecks and freeing up capacity in emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, and physician offices for more complex patient needs;
• and enhance outcomes through early detection and evidence-based treatment that prevents avoidable and costly hospitalizations.

NACDS' statement also:

• describes initiatives by the nation's pharmacies to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, especially through innovative technology;
• touts an initiative by the Milken Institute, supported by NACDS, that demonstrates a roadmap for leveraging pharmacies to improve healthcare;
• and demonstrates forward-leaning work by pharmacies to address total-person health, through Food Is Medicine and through NACDS' Nourish My Health - a national health education campaign.

Referring to the entirety of NACDS' statement and recommendations, Anderson concluded, "This Committee has the opportunity - and the foundation - to deliver relief at the pharmacy counter and to protect access to care in every community."

More information is available at NACDS' "Access Agenda" website.