February 28, 2024 | Category: Press Releases
Patient, Pharmacy, Rural & Senior Advocacy Groups Urge Congressional Leaders to Call on CBO to Promptly Complete A Score For the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 29, 2024 – The Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition announced today that more than 140 groups representing patients, rural and senior communities, pharmacists, health systems, and hospitals, delivered separate letters to Congressional leadership and the Biden Administration, including members of the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to call for urgent action to advance the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 1770/S. 2477). The bipartisan legislation would ensure Medicare beneficiaries maintain prompt access to essential pharmacist services for the prevention, testing, and treatment of common infectious diseases, and would create Medicare Part B direct reimbursement mechanisms for essential pharmacist services to protect America’s seniors. Signing groups urged congressional leaders to call on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to promptly complete a score for H.R. 1770.
“On behalf of the communities we serve – including Medicare beneficiaries, rural communities, patients living with chronic and complex conditions, caregivers, and others with limited access to health care – we urge you to call on Congress to support and enact the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (S. 2477/H.R. 1770) before the end of the year and in your capacity call on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to promptly complete a score for the legislation,” wrote more than 140 groups in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on the critical need for H.R. 1770/S. 2477.
The Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (HR. 1770/S. 2477) would establish Medicare Part B direct reimbursement for essential pharmacist services for COVID-19, influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pneumococcal, hepatitis B, and strep throat. H.R. 1770 is championed by Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE), Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL), Congressman Larry Bucshon (R-IN), and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), and pharmacist Members Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and Diana Harshbarger (R-TN). S. 2477 is championed by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Mark Warner (D-VA). To date, more than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, evenly split between the two parties have signed on to cosponsor the legislation and bipartisan support is building in the Senate.
Click here to see the full text of H.R. 1770/S. 2477, the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act.
Click here to view the full list of groups urging Congress and the Biden Administration to support H.R. 1770/S. 2477.
About the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition
The Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition is a group representing pharmacists and community pharmacies of all sizes serving millions of patients daily across the U.S. Coalition members supporting the legislation include Abbott, American Pharmacists Association (APhA), American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Cardinal Health, Cencora, CVS Health, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Health Mart, Kroger, McKesson, Medicine Shoppe, National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), Walgreens, and Walmart.
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