Hogue: Saving Southeast Missouri's pharmacies: The urgent call to action for Congress

A few weeks ago, I spent a day visiting with pharmacists across Southeast Missouri. From Cape Girardeau to Hayti to Portageville and Scott City in between, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the struggles facing small-town pharmacies, once ubiquitous, dotting Main Streets in every town in America.

The pharmacists who run these stores are incredible — totally devoted to their communities and in many cases, having passed on better offers with a higher financial reward so they can keep serving the community they call home. They are the backbone of our profession, and every Missourian — indeed, every American — is indebted to them.

But, right now, they need your help.

You might not know that pharmacists often don’t get paid for their services. Sure, they can get reimbursed for the cost of purchasing a vaccine, but they aren’t paid for providing the service of administering the vaccine itself. This means that pharmacies are often losing money performing work for which they are not reimbursed. This affects all pharmacies across the board, but the harshest effects are felt in rural communities and small towns, many of which I spent time in a few weeks ago in Southeast Missouri.

There is a solution.

It’s a bill in Congress called ECAPS — the Equitable Community Access to Pharmacy Services Act. It is bipartisan, it is common sense, and it is time this Congress passes it before a new Congress is seated in January. The bill currently sits in the House Committee on Ways & Means — chaired by your Congressman, Jason Smith (R-MO). Congressman Smith is the only person who can bring this bill to the full committee.

Here is where you can help — call Congressman Smith, send him an email, go to a public event and tell him this: SEMO Drug in Hayti needs his help. Butler Drug in Portagville needs his help. Chaffee Drug in Chaffee needs his help. Scott City Medicenter needs his help. Johns Pharmacy needs his help.

If you like your pharmacy, and you want to keep your pharmacist, call Jason Smith. Tell him you need his help.

Michael Hogue is the CEO of the American Pharmacists Association.