Valadao supports health care by pharmacists
While large-scale efforts to boost health care access, affordability and quality prove divisive, opportunities exist for incremental progress.
Outdated policy limits the care pharmacists can provide to Medicare patients. A solution exists: the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act – cosponsored by Rep. David Valadao.
The bill would allow Medicare beneficiaries to obtain basic services from their highly educated pharmacists – as they can from nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Pharmacists earn a minimum six-year Doctor of Pharmacy degree.
A poll by Morning Consult, commissioned by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, found eight-in-10 voters in Valadao’s district support allowing Medicare enrollees to visit pharmacists for blood pressure tests, immunizations, flu and strep tests, and diabetes management. Thank you to Valadao for supporting this bill.
Jon R. Roth, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, California Pharmacists Association, Sacramento
Steven C. Anderson, president and CEO, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Arlington, Virginia
This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Valadao supports health care by pharmacists."