The Legislation
We call on Congress to improve patients’ access to health care by passing the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act, H.R. 2759/S. 1362. The bill would add pharmacists to the list of providers whose patient care services, when delivered to patients in medically underserved communities, are covered by Medicare Part B (i.e., grant them “provider status”). The legislation would ensure that pharmacists are fairly compensated for the valuable patient care they provide to beneficiaries who struggle to access basic health care services.
Read the legislation on congress.gov
APhA Statement
Pharmacists offer services well beyond dispensing medications, and each state has its own scope of practice law that outlines which services they are authorized to provide. If Congress passed the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act, H.R. 2759/S. 1362 , pharmacists could bill Medicare Part B for services within their states’ scope of practice. Although they vary from state to state, these services generally include medication management, point-of-care testing, immunizations, and chronic disease management.
Read the APhA statement