Reform debate leaves behind industry alliances

Drug Store News, Oct 10, 1994 by Ken Rankin

I can't say exactly when the drug store industry's hopes for health care reform were dashed, but it was sometime this summer.

By late August, some drug chain executives at the NACDS Pharmacy Conference in Orlando were already talking about the Clinton Administration's bill in the past tense.

And last month, when Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell finally acknowledged that health reform was a legislative dead letter in the 103rd Congress, drug store industry leaders were already licking their wounds and counting casualties.

After more than a year of intense activity to help shape a health reform bill that retail pharmacy could live with, NACDS and NARD had come up short.

But while the outcome was a disappointment, it was far from a total defeat for the drug store industry. The unsuccessful struggle to secure health reform legislation last year did help to unify retail pharmacy through an unprecedented alliance of drug chains and independent pharmacists.

By working together instead of at cross purposes, NACDS and NARD were able to fend off mutant "reform" proposals that would have effectively locked most retail pharmacies out of the Administration's planned new Medicare outpatient drug program for the elderly.

In addition, the debate over health reform legislation helped to crystallize the drug store industry's concerns over "equal access" to pharmaceutical industry discounts.

But where does the drug store industry go from here? Here's how things are shaping up for the next 12 months:

* The NACDS/NARD coalition formed to represent retail pharmacy's interests in the health care reform debate will remain intact and an active force--and not just on the health reform front.

* The Clinton Administration will renew its drive for health reform legislation in '95, but don't expect the White House to push a bill identical to the one endorsed by community pharmacy last year.

* Drug chains and independents will support the new White House plan--but they may not be willing to put all their legislative eggs in Hillary's basket this time around.

* Look for a more diversified set of legislative priorities next year, with stronger emphasis on statelevel lobbying by both NACDS and NARD--particularly on the issue of discriminatory pricing.

* And don't be surprised to see several major brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers switch sides to embrace drug store industry-backed health reforms that assure retail pharmacies equal access to the same discount prices available to hospitals, HMOs and mail-order dispensaries.