Our Request to Congress and CMS
Pay for the medication and for the professional who makes it safe.
What we're asking for
- Pay the real cost of the drug. Reimburse each prescription at NADAC, the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost published by CMS, which shows what pharmacies actually pay for a medication.
- Add a Professional Fee to every prescription. A flat fee, separate from the drug cost, for the pharmacist's safety review, interaction screening and counseling.
- One floor for every pharmacy. The same minimum fee whether the pharmacy is independent or part of a large chain, with no lower fee based on volume.
- Base the fee on evidence. Set the amount at or above the documented cost of filling a prescription, informed by the answers collected on this site.
- End spread pricing. Stop middlemen from keeping the gap between what a plan pays for a drug and what the pharmacy receives, so the fee is funded without raising what patients pay.
Why it matters
A product is not a service. A plumber or a mechanic is paid to check the problem, not only for the parts. Payment for prescriptions often covers the drug and treats the pharmacist's review as free.
The work is required, the pay is not. State and federal rules require pharmacists to review prescriptions and offer counseling. When that work is paid nothing, pharmacies are pushed to cut staff, and patient safety suffers.
Losses can no longer be covered elsewhere. Pharmacies once offset losses on low-cost generics with margins on other drugs. Those margins have largely disappeared, so each prescription now has to cover its own cost.
Who receives it
Members of Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Signatures are delivered with totals by role and by state, so each office sees its own constituents.