Dear Colleague,

We’re closely monitoring developments flowing from the First DataBank AWP class action settlement. There are some very encouraging signs that many PBMs plan to adopt policies that will result in pharmacies NOT having their current average wholesale price-based reimbursements reduced. For that, we sincerely thank them.

Dear Colleague,

If reforming our health care system is like a marathon, and it sure looks that way, then the finish line is still miles away—much of it up hill. And like a marathon, the early leaders don't always take the prize. But from the opening gun, we've been in the race and not on the sidelines.

Dear Colleague,

Congress returned this week from its 4th of July recess, and the health care legislative process is intensifying. It would be foolhardy of me to try to predict when, or even if, a majority in Congress and the White House can agree on a plan.

Dear Colleague,

Yesterday I testified before the House Energy & Commerce Committee's health subcommittee on an earlier released "discussion draft" on health care reform legislation developed by three House committees. NCPA was the only pharmacy group invited to participate on the provider panel.

Dear Colleague,

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) this week released draft health care reform legislation that would recognize a greater role for pharmacy and give more patients with chronic conditions access to MTM services specifically delivered by pharmacists. It is a good first step. But, it is only a first step in a long march.

Dear Colleague,

The weeks from now until Congress breaks for its 4th of July recess are shaping up to be especially busy and critical for community pharmacy. Much of the focus will be on the expected June markup of health care reform legislation in the respective committees led by Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Dear Colleague,

As a follow up to last week's report, I am happy to share that the meeting with new Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz has been confirmed during our Annual Legislative Conference. We're still confirming the exact number but at least 70 pharmacists will be able to meet at the FTC to share why the merger between CVS and Caremark needs to be re-examined. This will be community pharmacy's opportunity to discuss the anticompetitive and anti-patient practices of CVS Caremark. As I said before, there is an air of change at the FTC and within the Justice Department's anti-trust division. We need to seize the day and make the most of every opportunity to create a level playing field for community pharmacy.

Dear Colleague,

There are a great many reasons to attend our annual legislative conference: networking with so many other committed community pharmacy activists, hearing from influential lawmakers, and presenting our case and that of our patients face-to-face with elected officials to name just a few. But this year we're going an extra mile on a very hot topic. We're in the process of arranging a meeting during the conference with the new FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, to discuss the anticompetitive and anti-patient practices of CVS Caremark.

Dear Colleague,

Activity in Congress is stepping up with several of NCPA’s legislative priorities now formally introduced. The latest is S. 511, the Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act of 2009, a bill that would add pharmacists to a list of 17 medical professions that already are exempt from new accreditation requirements for Medicare Part B DMEPOS providers. The accreditation fees and implementation costs are at least $5,000 to $7,000 per pharmacy, reoccur every three years, and are totally unneeded and unwarranted for pharmacists and pharmacies already licensed and regulated by their state and DEA.

Dear Colleague,

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—the $787 billion stimulus bill—was enacted on Feb. 17 (Public Law 111-5). There are a number of provisions that will have a significant impact on independent community pharmacy, in addition to the ones that affect us all as citizens and taxpayers.

Dear Colleague,

The same 12 pharmacy groups that I mentioned last week had unveiled the "pharmacy principles for health care reform" this past Wednesday came together again in support of an issues briefing sponsored by the Congressional Community Pharmacy Coalition. As you may remember, NCPA and some of pharmacy's strongest advocates in the House established the coalition in 2007. The original co-chairs were Reps. Marion Berry (D-Ark.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).

Dear Colleague,

Next week, NCPA and several other pharmacy groups are scheduled to hold a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to unveil "pharmacy principles for health care reform." After much hard work and back-and-forth, a dozen groups in all agreed on three broad reform principles:

Dear Colleague,

Fight4Rx officially launches Sunday. Fight4Rx is NCPA's nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at educating patients on the positive role community pharmacists play in their lives, and recruiting these patients as grassroots activists on behalf of pharmacy during the upcoming health care reform debate in Congress.