American Pharmacies Brings the Voices of Independent Pharmacy to Capitol Hill

Although the participants represented different states, pharmacy models and patient populations, many of the experiences they brought to Washington were remarkably familiar.

They spoke about the increasing difficulty of maintaining access to community pharmacy, reimbursement that does not adequately recognize the cost of providing care, PBM practices that can interfere with patient choice, and the consequences that pharmacy closures have for the communities left behind.

For rural pharmacists, those conversations often centered on what happens when the next closest pharmacy is several miles away. For others, the story involved patients being directed away from pharmacies they have trusted for years. And for pharmacy owners everywhere, the discussion returned to the challenge of continuing to provide highly accessible care in a marketplace where the rules are increasingly shaped by vertically integrated companies that may also be their competitors.

American Pharmacies provided participants with the policy background and legislative priorities for those conversations, but the most compelling examples came from the pharmacists themselves.

The policy priorities for the 2026 Fly-In centered on protecting patient access to community pharmacy.

In House and Senate meetings, participants discussed the need to continue advancing meaningful PBM reform, including fair pharmacy reimbursement, protections against steering, greater transparency and accountability, and policies that preserve competition and patient choice.

Several pieces of legislation provided a framework for those conversations, including the Pharmacists Fight Back Act and other House and Senate proposals addressing reimbursement, PBM practices, vertical integration and conflicts of interest.

TRICARE was another important part of the discussion. Participants asked Congress to preserve the pharmacy-benefit PBM audit language as lawmakers work toward a final FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, reinforcing the need for greater transparency around reimbursement and network access.

The delegation discussed implementation of Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, specifically the financial burden created when community pharmacies must acquire medications and wait to be made whole. APRx's priorities call for timely MFP-related payments and an adequate professional dispensing fee.

These were federal policy conversations, but the stories behind them were decidedly local.

By the time an APRx member walks through the door of a congressional office, much of the work behind that meeting has already happened.

Legislation has been reviewed. Policy priorities have been developed. Congressional offices have been contacted. Meetings have been coordinated. Background materials have been prepared. Participants have been briefed. Relationships that begun months or even years earlier have helped create the opportunity for another conversation.

That work is an important part of American Pharmacies' commitment to its members.

Independent pharmacy owners should not have to become full-time Washington policy experts to have a meaningful voice in the decisions affecting their profession. American Pharmacies provides the advocacy infrastructure that allows its members to step into those conversations informed, prepared and supported.

But once the meetings begin, the most important voice in the room belongs to the pharmacist.

That is what made the 2026 Federal Fly-In meaningful. American Pharmacies could create the opportunity, but its members gave the conversations substance.

The Fly-In also demonstrated the breadth of the American Pharmacies network. The people physically gathered in Washington represented pharmacies and patients in communities across the country, and several participants brought the perspective of multi-state pharmacy operations with them.

That national reach gave the delegation a valuable range of experiences to draw from. A reimbursement issue may look different in rural New Mexico than it does in California or New Jersey. Network access may create different challenges in Tennessee than in Michigan. Yet those differences helped reinforce a common message: policies affecting independent pharmacy ultimately affect whether patients can continue receiving care from the pharmacies they know and trust.

Throughout the day, the individual state and regional teams carried that shared message into their own congressional meetings, giving lawmakers the opportunity to hear how national policy decisions are experienced in local communities.

By late afternoon, the teams had crossed Capitol Hill countless times, moved between House and Senate office buildings and shared the independent pharmacy story with congressional offices from across the country.

But the significance of the Fly-In is not measured simply by the number of meetings held in Washington.

It is found in the relationships strengthened, the experiences shared and the understanding created when a policymaker hears directly from a pharmacy owner about what federal policy looks like once it reaches the pharmacy counter.

Those relationships continue long after the delegation leaves Washington. Conversations begun on Capitol Hill become follow-up calls, district meetings, pharmacy visits and future opportunities to provide insight as legislation develops.

That continuity is central to American Pharmacies' approach to advocacy. The goal is not simply to appear when a vote is imminent. It is to build the relationships and credibility that ensure independent pharmacy has a voice throughout the policymaking process.