ARLINGTON, Va. – With the U.S. House of Representatives slated to consider legislation related to the pandemic this week, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores has a vital message: constituents view the importance of pharmacy access as a lesson that must be learned from the past three years.

A poll by Morning Consult, commissioned by NACDS and conducted December 7-12, 2022, found that 64% of American adults – including majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents – believe “Learning the lessons of the pandemic means keeping in place policies that make it easier for patients to access services from pharmacists and other pharmacy team members – including vaccinations.” Among those 65 years and older, the level of support jumps to 77%.

Meanwhile, only 20 percent believe: “It is time to return to all policies that were in place before the pandemic, including those that limit patients’ access to services provided by pharmacists and other pharmacy team members.”

Steve Anderson

NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson said: “The majority of every single demographic tested is in favor of keeping pharmacy access. That’s Republicans, Democrats, urban, rural, all races, all religions, all incomes. America is united on pharmacy access.”

Anderson made his comments at the NACDS Regional Chain Conference in Orlando. The Conference includes NACDS-member pharmacies operating between four and 250 locations and their supplier partners.

NACDS has engaged consistently with the Biden Administration, with the U.S. Congress, and with state governments to help sustain patient access that is relied on and expected by constituents.

NACDS urges the Biden Administration to take clear action to ensure pharmacy aspects of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) are retained through October 2024.

NACDS urges state governments to write into state laws and regulations without delay the pharmacy provisions of the federal PREP Act.

NACDS urges the 118th Congress to pass legislation – the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 7213 in the 117th Congress) – to create a reliable Medicare reimbursement mechanism for pharmacy services.

About the poll methodology: Morning Consult conducted this poll between December 7-December 12, 2022, among a sample of 20,010 Adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of Adults based on gender, age, race, educational attainment, and region. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage points. NACDS commissioned the poll.