50 Reasons to Give Thanks: H.R. 9096 Gets its 50th Co-sponsor!

We said we’d do it and as of today — Tuesday, November 26th — we, and by “we” I mean ALL OF US TOGETHER, met Congressman Jake Auchincloss’ goal of adding 50 co-sponsors to the Pharmacists Fight Back Act by Thanksgiving! Congratulations Team!!

Representative Juan Ciscomani (AZ-R) became the 50th delegate to sign in support of H.R. 9096, creating an evenly-balanced, bipartisan bill. Thank you Congressman Ciscomani!

This not-small and certainly not-insignificant step is our victory. It’s YOUR victory. Please take a moment to let that sink in!

There will be time in the future to assess what we did and how we did it, but here’s a quick look at what we didn’t do:

• We didn’t delegate the task to a paid spokesperson. We all made our own phone calls, sent our own emails, posted our own photos and created and used our homemade countertop signs and petitions.
• We didn’t stop in the face of non-answers, evasiveness, “we’ll get back to you’s” and other delay tactics. We simply didn’t stop.
• We didn’t shut down when others in our industry were critical, accusatory or upset with us for prioritizing HR 9096 co-sponsors. While a little odd at times and frankly always puzzling, we incorporated the useful feedback and when appropriate included those other bills into our conversations. Remember, there’s no such thing as bad PBM reform if legislation takes us even one step closer to reducing PBMs’ anti-competitive actions against pharmacies and lowers drug costs for consumers.

In short, together we took matters into our own hands. We used our voices and the resources available to us (mostly email, social media, phone calls, Zoom, in-person meetings and the occasional burst of creativity) to convey the urgency of the situation to Congress. We didn’t do it in a vacuum, we built atop the foundation independent pharmacies and pharmacy organizations have spent years constructing.

So to all of us — all of YOU — and you know who you are, thank you for giving everything you had to seeing us to 50 co-sponsors for the Pharmacists Fight Back Act.

We are still very much at the beginning of what will surely be a long, frequently difficult journey from bill to law (refresh your memory of that process here). Nothing is guaranteed, but when we work together, great things really are possible!

Wishing you the happiest and most satisfying of Thanksgiving holidays,

Monique Whitney | PUTT Executive Director