ACCP Joins Pharmacy Colleagues Across the Profession to Support the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ECAPS)
March 24, 2022
ACCP announces its support for the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ECAPS), which enables Medicare patients to receive timely and consistent treatment from pharmacists for pandemic-related health services and facilitates pharmacist response to current and future threats to public health.
The bill was introduced on March 24, 2022, by Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), David B. McKinley (R-WV), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), and Buddy Carter (R-GA).
The bill is an effort to position pharmacists to respond to the threat of new COVID variants and potential future pandemics by providing ready access to testing, treatment, and immunizations for communities throughout the country.
Specifically, the new legislation would:
- Add pharmacists as eligible providers for Medicare Part B beneficiaries of pharmacies’ and pharmacists’ services related to the COVID-19 pandemic and specific infectious diseases, such as testing (for COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and strep throat), treatment (for COVID-19, influenza, and strep throat), and vaccinations (for COVID-19 and influenza);
- Prepare for future emergencies by creating a mechanism to establish Medicare coverage and payment for pharmacy- and pharmacist-provided services when there is a public health need, such as during a public health emergency or similar event;
- Authorize the HHS secretary to identify services as needed, including to close gaps in health equity;
- Be limited to state scope of practice or incident to physician’s services, or more broadly if provided under a PREP Act declaration; and
- Enable pharmacists across the country to provide services to Medicare beneficiaries in order to address COVID-19 and other pressing health needs in all areas of the country.
A draft copy of the legislative language is available here.
For more information, contact ACCP’s Director of Government Affairs at [email protected].