The Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition urges Congress to pass the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act, H.R. 3164, to ensure Medicare beneficiaries have access to essential pharmacy care and services provided by pharmacists within state scope of practice laws.
WASHINGTON, DC, May 2, 2025 – Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), this week introduced H.R. 3164, the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ECAPS), bipartisan legislation that would ensure Medicare beneficiaries can access select testing and treatment services from pharmacists. ECAPS allows pharmacists to receive payment from Medicare Part B to provide select services for flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), strep throat, and COVID-19 to seniors, who are the most vulnerable to complications from these conditions. Payments would apply only in states where pharmacists are already permitted by state law to deliver these services. More than 170 organizations support ECAPS, including rural and senior advocacy groups, physician and provider groups, patient advocacy organizations, pharmacists, health systems, and many others.
The Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition, “commends Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) for introducing the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ECAPS) to ensure seniors, including those living in rural areas and vulnerable communities, can turn to their local pharmacists for services that can protect them from common infectious diseases. Congress must move quickly and provide seniors with Medicare coverage in states where pharmacists can offer testing and treatment services for conditions that, although common, can quickly become life-threatening if not properly managed.”
ECAPS would ensure prompt and continued access to essential pharmacist services for seniors and rural communities, including:
- TESTING: influenza, strep throat, RSV, and COVID-19
- TREATMENT: influenza, strep throat, RSV, and COVID-19
The critical role of America’s pharmacists
- Pharmacists are the most accessible health care provider. Nine in 10 Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, and patients visit their community pharmacist approximately twice as frequently as they visit primary care physicians.
- Pharmacists are often the only qualified health care provider for rural Americans. Rural Americans, especially those in areas where there have been nearly 200 rural hospital closures since 2005, often rely on pharmacists as the only qualified health care provider in their community.
- Pharmacists help keep seniors, particularly those living in rural & other underserved communities, healthy. More than half of pharmacists (55%) work in a community-based setting and 77% of community pharmacies serve populations of 50,000 or fewer.
While Americans with private insurance, Medicaid beneficiaries, and federal employees may be covered, Congress must act to ensure access to essential pharmacist services for Medicare beneficiaries.
About the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition
The Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition is a group representing pharmacists and community pharmacies of all sizes serving millions of patients daily across the United States. Coalition members supporting the legislation include Abbott, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), Cardinal Health, Cencora, CVS Health, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Health Mart, Kroger, McKesson, Medicine Shoppe, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), Walgreens, and Walmart.
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