Grave Concerns for Tricare Beneficiaries
Floor Speech
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Mr. ALLEN. Thanks to my friend and colleague from Georgia, Mr. Carter, for organizing this Special Order and for your leadership on this issue.
This is an important issue. You know, growing up and then, of course, now, you know, my pharmacist is a dear friend of mine.
I don't want to go to another pharmacist, although you get all these offers to get this through the mail and all that. To me, your pharmacist is kind of like choosing your doctor.
I mean, they do so much for the communities that they serve, particularly in rural America.
But what we are talking about here, and as Congressman Carter said, it is about the American troops, our veterans and their families that are at risk of losing access to lifesaving prescriptions.
In October, the Defense Health Agency's pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, cut nearly 15,000 pharmacies from its network, all because they wouldn't accept Express Scripts' outrageous terms.
Why does this happen?
I mean, of course, obviously we are shining a light on this because the entire country needs to know about this, particularly our veteran communities.
This decision left a quarter of a million people with few or no local, in-person options to access the medicine and treatments they need.
Countless Americans choose to get their prescriptions filled at their local or independent pharmacy specifically because of the quality of service they provide.
Like I said, it is a personal thing. It is a relationship. Your pharmacist has knowledge of your medical history, and the relationship that patients have with their community pharmacist is important, and it must be allowed to continue.
This choice is important, especially for veterans who have sacrificed so much. This decision has negatively impacted scores of veterans, particularly those living in rural areas like the ones I represent in Georgia 12.
My colleagues and I will continue to put pressure on this administration to do the right thing and step up to ensure that community and retail pharmacies are able to continue to serve our military by offering reliable, local access to their medicine. This is critical.
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