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Congressman Gonzalez Leads Bipartisan Letter to Reform Pharmacy DIR Fees

April 29, 2020

WASHINGTON – Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) led a bipartisan letter with Congressmen Buddy Carter (GA-01), Peter Welch (VT-AL), Doug Collins (GA-09), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), and John Rose (TN-06) with 115 members of Congress requesting Congressional leadership to include the critical reform of pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees in any upcoming coronavirus (COVID-19) legislation.

"Pharmacies across the United States and in South Texas are working tirelessly to meet the demand of the COVID-19 crisis," said Congressman Gonzalez. "Prior to this pandemic, DIR fees were financially straining our local pharmacists and hindering their ability to provide for patients. As we move forward, we must consider this critical reform to unburden our pharmacies of these costly penalties and provide much-needed transparency."

In the letter the lawmakers wrote:

"As our nation grapples with the spread of the novel coronavirus, pharmacies have a critical role in helping patients manage their care, including those patients with chronic and complex conditions who are most vulnerable. America's pharmacists are among the nation's most accessible health care professionals, providing medication access and management as individuals shelter in place. Pharmacists and their employees are putting their health on the line to provide for medications and care for patients."

They added:

"Ensuring the viability of our nation's pharmacies has never been more important. As negotiations on the next aid package move forward, we respectfully request that you remove the barriers that threaten pharmacy financial stability and a pharmacy's ability to support patients. This can be achieved by enacting much needed pharmacy DIR clawback reform. Pharmacies report that DIR clawback fees continue to be assessed against them right now, even during this period of intense strain. CMS states that DIR fees grew by 45,000 percent between 2010 and 2017, and now, during this financial crisis in which pharmacies are already struggling, DIR fees threaten to cause more pharmacies to close their doors.

We must keep pharmacies open during this crisis.

Pharmacy DIR reform has strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. We ask for these reforms to be enacted now and hope that Members of Congress will not overlook the critical need to ensure the sustainability of pharmacies during this public health emergency."

The full letter can be found here.

Issues:Health Care