Please consider cosponsoring the Pharmacists and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (S. 1362/H.R. 2759).
[Thank your member of Congress if they previously cosponsored the bill.]
States are increasingly recognizing the ability of pharmacists to improve access to services like point-of-care testing for infectious diseases, diabetes monitoring, access to urgently needed medications such as pre-and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, management of complex medication regimens, and smoking cessation services.
[Describe what clinical services pharmacists are authorized to provide in your state.]
This has never been truer than during our current public health emergency, when states are asking pharmacists to provide a range of important services, including COVID-19 testing and vaccinations against COVID-19 and other diseases.
In rural and underserved communities, pharmacists may be the only accessible healthcare provider able to provide these services.
Despite state laws allowing patients to access healthcare services from their pharmacist, Medicare Part B does not cover these services when they are provided to Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, beneficiaries’ access to the healthcare provider with the most medication-related education and training is severely restricted. Your bill would correct this Medicare-imposed restriction on seniors’ access to care.
[If Medicaid or commercial payers reimburse clinical services provided by pharmacists, mention that and point out that Medicare does not reimburse for those services.]
The bill does not expand pharmacists’ scope of practice in any state. Rather, it simply allows pharmacists to provide Medicare beneficiaries with the same level of care that they are licensed to provide to other patients.
