Last week while I was in Washington DC, I had the privilege to meet with several US Senators, US Representatives, and the lawmakers’ staff charged with healthcare issues. I was with a group of independent pharmacy owners, and we were asking for support for three pieces of bipartisan legislation that had implications related to patient access to healthcare. Our job while meeting was to convey real stories and the ramifications of the legislation to these lawmakers.
One of the things we were asked to do when speaking with our legislators and their staff was to speak in terms of how the legislation impacts our patients. The patients are constituents of the lawmakers. We were cautioned to limit speaking in terms of the benefits or ramifications of how these bills would impact the businesses (both chain and independent pharmacies).
While I understand the need to approach the lawmakers from the perspective of access of patients to healthcare, I view enabling the success of the local pharmacy as the other side of the same coin. Legislation that helps maintain the viability of a pharmacy by making the playing field more fair results in the pharmacy staying open. Pharmacies that are open can care for and serve the patient. A pharmacy that closed its doors due to poor or non-existent reimbursement for services cannot serve the patient.
If a pharmacy has to close and there is another pharmacy nearby, care will generally gravitate to that pharmacy. There is a real risk when this happens that the addition of these new patients with prescription plans that poorly reimburse the pharmacy will further erode the financial viability of the remaining pharmacy. Once all pharmacies are closed in an area, then access to care becomes a crisis.
The number of small towns in Iowa now without a pharmacy that have approached us to open stores in them is, frankly, staggering. But given the current state of pharmacy reimbursement, it is unlikely we could ever manage such a feat without risking the overall viability of our existing stores. Something has to be done on a federal level to protect access to pharmacies.
So, while we voiced our concerns to legislators in terms of the impacts of the legislation on the patients we serve, the real concern is and will continue to be pharmacies being paid fairly for the care they provide. This is Legislative Season. Many groups are contacting or even heading to Washington DC to engage with their legislators. Make the effort. Make Every Encounter with your lawmakers Count this spring!