Congress must act now to pass ECAPS

Health care access, particularly in rural areas of America, is abysmal. It’s hard to find a community that isn’t hurting right now, in desperate need of additional health care access. Community hospitals, community health centers, and community pharmacies are closing at extraordinary rates. Patients are losing their last remaining access points to health care with nowhere else to turn.

It’s amazing to me how everyone can see this catastrophe happening, but the people who should be taking action—Congress—seem to be watching in slow motion, failing to act. Meanwhile, the burden of preventable and treatable conditions creates costs that could have been avoided completely, resulting in unnecessary misery and suffering. The impact on our communities is heartbreaking. Our ability as a profession to care for our patients is at risk.

It’s time for that to change.

It’s time for Congress to do something to support the pillars of our communities—pharmacists and pharmacy personnel—to help pharmacies stay open and remain accessible. A few years back, Congress made it clear that the banking industry was too big to fail. They’ve bailed out and assisted numerous sectors over the years. Pharmacy isn’t asking for a bailout. We are asking for one simple thing: pay pharmacists for their care services just like other health care providers are paid. It’s not a complex concept.

APhA is a member of the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition and partner in advancing the passage of the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacists Services (ECAPS) Act, H.R. 3164/S.2426. The bill is supported by over 170 organizations and groups, including physician and other health care provider organizations. ECAPS is a common-sense bill that will provide common-sense coverage for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens.

If you’ve not written to your member of Congress asking for this bill to be passed now, won’t you pause for a moment and do so?

Time is running out. Every week that Congress fails to act, more pharmacists are forced to close their doors. When more communities lose access, more patients suffer.

Please visit our easy-to-use Advocacy Center to ask Congress to pass ECAPS this year!

For every pharmacist. For all of pharmacy.