During the pandemic emergency, amendments to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act expanded the authority of pharmacists to administer certain vaccines. As a result, pharmacists provided more COVID-19 vaccine doses than any other health care professional, and took on the responsibility of administering vaccinations to older adults in long-term care settings.
Now that the public health emergency is over, a bipartisan bill known as The Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (ECAPS) would establish a federal Medicare reimbursement mechanism for pharmacists to provide testing, treatment, and vaccinations for specific infectious diseases such as COVID-19, flu, RSV and strep throat.
What are the merits and challenges of the ECAPS bill? What are the latest vaccine recommendations for older adults this cold and flu season? How are vaccination programs administered in long-term care? How is the U.S. tracking against its vaccination goals? What role should pharmacies and pharmacists play? And how can Washington address the challenges of patient access and the broader long-term care pharmacy market?
Join The Hill as we convene leaders in Congress, the administration, health care, and patient advocacy to answer these questions and more.