Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited with Grubb’s Pharmacy owner Michael Kim.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.  – Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited with Grubb’s Pharmacy owner Michael Kim and his team on Capitol Hill at a Thursday event aimed in part at promoting zero cost-sharing vaccines for Medicare patients. The secretary is working to boost awareness among seniors and caregivers that as of Jan. 1, 2023, policies in the Inflation Reduction Act make adult vaccines free in Medicare for seniors and cap beneficiaries’ monthly cost sharing for insulin products to no more than $35.

Kim, a member of the National Community Pharmacists Association, thanked Becerra for visiting the pharmacy and said he expects these policies to ease financial burdens on his patients. He also discussed the need for reforming pharmacy benefit managers and how the middlemen make it difficult for pharmacies like his to serve seniors and other patients. NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, pharmacist, MBA, was present as well.