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.
NCPA
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), founded in 1898, represents the nation's community pharmacists, including owners of more than 24,000 pharmacies, more than 68,000 pharmacists and more than 280,000 full-time employees. The nation's independent pharmacies, independent pharmacy franchises, and independent chains dispense nearly half of the nation's retail prescription medicines. For more information about NCPA, visit www.ncpanet.org.
NACDS
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) represents the nation's leading retail chain pharmacies and suppliers, helping them better meet the changing needs of their patients and customers. Chain pharmacies operate more than 37,000 pharmacies, employ 114,000 pharmacists, fill more than 2.3 billion prescriptions yearly. Other members include more than 1,000 suppliers of products and services to the chain drug industry. For more information about NACDS, visit www.nacds.org.
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