U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) visits a Health Mart pharmacy in 2022 as part of the NACDS RxIMPACT grassroots program. U.S. Rep. Fletcher reported on the tour in her constituent newsletter at the time. More recently, in May of this year, she reported in her newsletter her co-sponsorship of legislation to enhance pharmacy access for Medicare beneficiaries.
Legislators’ newsletters say a lot. They showcase an elected official’s work in Washington, D.C. or in a state capital on behalf of constituents.
Pharmacist “provider status” legislation shined in a recent newsletter of U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX).
U.S. Rep. Fletcher stated: “Also this week, I co-sponsored several pieces of legislation on issues important to our community, including … The Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 1770), to expand Medicare coverage to include services provided by pharmacists.” Her co-sponsorship holds particular significance given her work on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce – a panel to which this bill has been referred.
In a prior newsletter – in August 2022 – U.S. Rep. Fletcher also described her tour of a Health Mart pharmacy as part of the NACDS RxIMPACT grassroots advocacy program.
The words and actions of U.S. Rep Fletcher match well with something that NACDS knows to be true: pharmacist “provider status” legislation and other pro-patient and pro-pharmacy issues stand to benefit Texans in her Congressional District southwest of Houston. The same can be said of Americans in all states and Congressional Districts.
Eighty-four percent of adults in U.S. Rep. Fletcher’s Congressional District say it is “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to access pharmacies – ranking their accessibility the highest among healthcare destinations tested (others tested include doctors, the emergency room, nurses, primary care physicians, and specialist physicians).
- This is the result of a poll by polling and media company Morning Consult, commissioned by NACDS. See data for your state and Congressional District…
The success of this legislation very well may hinge on whether members of Congress insist on its advancement at key points in the legislative process. Their resolve to do so often depends on what they are hearing from constituents at home.
“Important to our community” – a description used by U.S. Rep. Fletcher – is exactly how this bill needs to be known.
Steven C. Anderson, FASAE, CAE, IOM
President & Chief Executive Officer
