Fourth Annual NACDS RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill

Floor Speech

Mr. ROSS of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, the Fourth Annual NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill is a special day where we recognize pharmacy's contribution to the American healthcare system. The event, organized by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, takes place on March 21 22. Hundreds from the pharmacy community--including practicing pharmacists, pharmacy school faculty and students, state pharmacy leaders and pharmacy company executives--will visit Capitol Hill to share their views with Congress about the importance of supporting legislation that protects access to neighborhood pharmacies and utilizes pharmacists to improve the quality and reduce the costs of healthcare.

Two of these attendees from more than 40 states who have traveled to Washington are from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy. These important healthcare providers are here to urge Congress to recognize the value of pharmacists and protect access to these medication experts as a part of our valued healthcare delivery system.
Pharmacists are the nation's most accessible healthcare providers and nearly all Americans live within five miles of a community retail pharmacy. There are 116 chain pharmacies and 108 independent pharmacies in
my own Congressional District in Arkansas. Pharmacy has a long history of receiving, filling, billing and dispensing prescriptions in tandem with counseling. But pharmacists, utilizing their specialized education, also play a major role in medication therapy management, disease state management, immunizations, healthcare screenings, and other healthcare services designed to improve patient health and reduce overall healthcare costs.
We have a responsibility to adopt policies in recognition that pharmacists help patients adhere to their medications to improve health outcomes and reduce the risks of adverse events and unnecessary costly hospital readmissions and emergency room visits. Congress recognized the important role of local pharmacists when it included a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) benefit in Medicare Part D. As we have seen the increasing power of this benefit in improving patient health outcomes, I support community pharmacy's efforts to strengthen the MTM benefit so it is available for seniors and others struggling with chronic conditions and other illnesses.

We also have a responsibility to implement fair reimbursement for pharmacies for the cost effective medications that they dispense.

Furthermore, we have a responsibility to protect American consumers and the pharmacies that serve them from corporate middlemen known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). Despite their claims to the contrary, PBMs drive up prescription drug costs, restrict consumers' choice of pharmacy, use gimmicks to delay payments to pharmacies and use private and sensitive health information for illegitimate purposes. Nothing is more important to chain pharmacy than the health and safety of their patients and the well-being of the American public.

Today, I celebrate the value of pharmacy and support efforts to protect access to neighborhood pharmacies and utilize pharmacies to improve the quality and reduce the costs of healthcare. In recognition of the Fourth Annual NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill, I would like to congratulate pharmacy leaders, pharmacists, students, and executives and the pharmacy community represented by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores for their contributions to the good health of the American people.

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