Introduction

The Coalition for Community Pharmacy Action (CCPA) is an historic alliance between the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), which together represent more than 55,000 community pharmacies. CCPA's mission is to ensure that patients have continued access to affordable medicines and prescription care from their trusted and accessible health professional - the community pharmacist.

Patients trust and rely on the community pharmacist as a frontline provider of our healthcare system. You will find a pharmacy in almost every community across the United States - ninety percent of Americans live within five miles of their community pharmacy.

Patients value their community pharmacists for many reasons:

• Pharmacists are the most accessible professionals in healthcare
• Pharmacists strive to provide the best value in health care and ensure appropriate treatment options
• Patients get the prescription care they need face-to-face and close to home
• Many community pharmacies offer valuable services, such as delivery, compounding, custom packaging, and emergency medicine supplies
• Pharmacists work closely with other health care practitioners to deliver real health benefits for their patients

Given the many government agencies that regulate pharmacy coupled with the growing tendency of Congress and State Legislatures to pass laws impacting prescription care, CCPA's mission is to aggressively address the most pressing issues facing community pharmacy and our patients. Current issues include improving Medicare Part D, preserving the military TRICARE benefit, ensuring Medicaid patient access to their neighborhood pharmacy and challenging mandatory or coercive mail-order schemes.

CCPA activities engage a wide government audience at both the federal and state level including: Congress and State Legislatures, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Drug Enforcement Association (DEA), State Boards of Pharmacy, State Health and Human Services Commissions, and State Departments of Public Safety.

National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)

The National Community Pharmacists Association, founded in 1898, represents the interests of the nation’s community pharmacists, including the owners of more than 23,000 pharmacies. The nation’s independent pharmacies, independent pharmacy franchises, and independent chains dispense nearly half of the nation's retail prescription medicines. To learn more go to www.ncpanet.org.

National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS)

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) represents traditional drug stores, supermarkets, and mass merchants with pharmacies – from regional chains with four stores to national companies. Chains operate 39,000 pharmacies, and employ more than 2.7 million employees, including 118,000 full-time pharmacists. They fill nearly 2.6 billion prescriptions annually, which is more than 72 percent of annual prescriptions in the United States. The total economic impact of all retail stores with pharmacies transcends their $830 billion in annual sales. Every $1 spent in these stores creates a ripple effect of $1.96 in other industries, for a total economic impact of $1.57 trillion, equal to 11 percent of GDP. NACDS represents 137 chains that operate these pharmacies in neighborhoods across America, and NACDS members also include more than 900 pharmacy and consumer packaged goods suppliers and service providers, and over 60 international members from 23 countries. For more information about NACDS, visit www.NACDS.org.

Contact Us

To contact the Coalition for Community Pharmacy Action, please email: Info@RxACTION.org