ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Next month, the National Community Pharmacists Association plans to bring hundreds of pharmacists and other pharmacy advocates to the nation’s capital for its 2017 Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In.

The NCPA Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In on April 26 and 27 will feature a legislative briefing on Capitol Hill with former Rep. Jim McCrery (R., Louisiana), now a partner at Capitol Counsel, and a breakfast with a keynote speech by Jayne O’Donnell, health care reporter for USA Today.

In addition, community pharmacists will hold meetings with their members of Congress on both days of the advocacy event.

“As the scrutiny on the abuses of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) intensifies, it’s more important than ever for community pharmacists to come together on behalf of our patients and press our case to Congress. We’ll be urging them to take action on legislation aimed at ending crippling direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees collected retroactively,” NCPA president DeAnn Mullins said in a statement. “We’ll also be asking them to act quickly to move on legislation that would require reasonable transparency in PBM pricing and reimbursement practices.”

NCPA members’ top legislative priorities include enacting legislation to ban retroactive pharmacy DIR fees;
ensuring community pharmacies and the patients they serve are protected in Affordable Care Act repeal/replace reforms and in any Medicaid reforms; and increasing transparency and oversight of MAC pricing in federal health programs by PBMs through the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act.

The association also continues to advocate for the “any willing pharmacy” criterion for community pharmacy participation in Medicare Part D preferred networks as well as for the enactment of pharmacist provider status legislation.

“The NCPA Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In is a once-a-year opportunity for community pharmacists to flex their political muscle,” added Mullins, owner of Mullins Pharmacy, WeCare Wellness and the WeCare Diabetes Education Prorgam in Lynn Haven, Fla. “We’ll meet with elected officials in person about these critical issues, and we’ll make a difference for our patients. I strongly encourage all community pharmacists and community pharmacy supporters to join us as we fill the halls of Congress this April to advocate for small business pharmacies and the patients we serve.”