[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 214 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H7239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     DEFENDING COMMUNITY PHARMACIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. John W. Rose) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support 
of community pharmacies not only in my district, the Sixth District of 
Tennessee, but across the country.
  Late last week, I received this letter, notifying me that my 
community pharmacy would no longer be in-network and that if I had any 
future prescriptions filled at this pharmacy, I would have to pay 
personally in full. This change would take place almost immediately.
  Like most Americans, I have a years-long relationship with my 
community pharmacy, Gordonsville Drugs, and my community pharmacist, 
Amy Dudney.
  But I was not part of a select few individuals to receive this 
notification; there have been approximately 60 independent pharmacies 
throughout Tennessee that recently found themselves out-of-network for 
certain plans administered by the pharmacy benefit manager, CVS 
Caremark.
  This is not happening just in Gordonsville, Tennessee. Many Americans 
have a community pharmacy like Gordonsville Drugs and a pharmacist like 
Amy Dudney in their community.
  Thankfully, due to sustained lobbying efforts by the independent 
pharmacy community, CVS Caremark has reached out to many of these 
pharmacies and offered them contracts to remain in-network.
  However, letters like the one I received remain extremely damaging to 
our independent pharmacies. In the specific case of Gordonsville Drugs, 
although CVS Caremark made the right choice to keep the independent 
pharmacy in-network, they have yet to send a letter with this updated 
change to customers like me. CVS Caremark must commit to sending new 
letters, notifying customers that they can continue to use their 
neighborhood independent pharmacy with whom they have long-term 
relationships.
  We continue to let our community pharmacies be bullied by pharmacy 
benefit managers like CVS Caremark, but we can't let this continue. 
With winter upon us and the pandemic surging, there has never been a 
greater need to ensure the viability of our community pharmacies.

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