NCPA hits Hill, asking lawmakers to address PBM practices in gov’t programs
By HME News Staff
Updated 10:35 AM CDT, Mon April 20, 2026
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Independent pharmacists visited nearly 300 offices for meetings with lawmakers and their staff during the National Community Pharmacist Association’s Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In on April 15-16. Their message: We appreciate the reforms to Medicare Part D contract terms that Congress passed earlier this year, and now we would urge them to address pharmacy benefit manager practices in government programs like Medicaid, Tricare, and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program. “The PBM reform provisions signed into law this year were hard-fought, and they represented massive progress,” said Kristen Riddle, PharmD, the 2025-2026 NCPA president. “As grateful as we are, though, these reforms weren’t a silver-bullet solution that fixed all patient and pharmacy issues with PBMs. Given the nature of how these middlemen operate, there’s still more to do. Hundreds of independent pharmacists participated in NCPA’s fly-in again this year with hope and determination fueling our efforts. We’ve accomplished great things, and together, we’ll continue fighting to make real change for independent pharmacies and the communities they serve across the country.” The NCPA says the event was at maximum capacity for the third year in a row, drawing hundreds of independent pharmacists from 43 states and the District of Columbia. The next fly-in has been scheduled for April 7-8, 2027.
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