This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a legislative hearing titled “Examining Legislative Proposals to Reform Medicare Provider Payment and Bolster Health Care Cybersecurity,” focusing in part on H.R. 3164 (the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act / Main Street Pharmacy Access Act).

This hearing builds on the bill’s momentum from May, when the House Ways and Means Committee marked up and passed H.R. 3164, a significant step toward giving seniors easier access to care at their neighborhood pharmacy. Members of Congress who are championing the bill are positioning it for possible inclusion in post-election legislation, should the opportunity for such legislation develop.

The hearing is the result of sustained advocacy by NACDS, member companies, and other allies in the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition in support of H.R. 3164 and its Senate companion, S. 2426.

H.R. 3164 enjoys the support of 38 members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a majority of the panel, including Health Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-VA), who voiced his support during his opening statement:

“Another bill before us is the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act, or ECAPS, led by Representative Smith of Nebraska and Representative Schneider of Illinois.

This legislation would expand Medicare coverage for certain pharmacist services, such as pharmacist-provided testing.

Community pharmacists are often among the most accessible providers in rural areas, which makes this legislation important for communities such as my district where many patients consider the pharmacy a critical point of care.”

The panel of witnesses included Anthony Pudlo, PharmD, MBA, MS, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, Tennessee Pharmacists Association. Pudlo is pictured above with representatives of members of the Future of Pharmacy Care Coalition, including NACDS’ Kate Ilahi, Senior Director, Congressional Relations.

Drawing from his years of experience working as a pharmacist within his community, Pudlo made a strong case for H.R. 3164, sharing how pharmacists are already critical care points in their communities and why Congress must remove barriers preventing them from providing the care their patients need:

“Throughout my career as a practicing pharmacist, I cared for patients managing diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, depression, and multiple chronic conditions. I spent countless hours helping patients understand complex medication regimens, navigate barriers to treatment, and manage conditions that, if left unaddressed, often lead to expensive hospitalizations and poorer health outcomes. In many cases, pharmacists were the most accessible health care professionals available to those patients.

My experiences have consistently reinforced a simple reality: the issue before us is not whether pharmacists are capable of doing more. The issue is whether unnecessary barriers will continue to prevent communities from utilizing an available, highly trained health care resource when and where patients need it most.

ECAPS helps close this gap by covering pharmacist-provided patient care services under Medicare Part B for common respiratory conditions aligned with state scope of practice as members of patient care teams and allowing Medicare beneficiaries to access these services closer to home.”

Pudlo briefly met with Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Vice Chair of the Health Subcommittee, and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), former Chairman of the Health Subcommittee. Both lawmakers are pharmacists themselves, reflecting the growing recognition within Congress of the vital role pharmacists play in patient care.

Prior to the hearing, NACDS sent a letter of support to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee leadership urging swift consideration of H.R. 3164.

In the letter, NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson wrote:

“Pharmacists are highly trusted and educated healthcare professionals, and the unique scale of the nation’s pharmacies allows them to reach seniors across rural and urban communities, vulnerable populations, and beyond. Pharmacists and pharmacies fulfill a highly appropriate and necessary role as integral components of the healthcare ecosystem.

Importantly, this legislation does not expand pharmacists’ scope of practice, nor does it overstep into state decision-making. H.R. 3164 would make available to seniors in Medicare specific pharmacist-provided services that other Americans already can access. H.R. 3164 establishes a Medicare payment mechanism for specific respiratory services in states that have authorized pharmacists to perform them.”

In July, members of the NACDS Policy Council gathered on Capitol Hill for meetings with House Energy and Commerce Committee members to discuss the importance of advancing H.R. 3164 and why expanding access to pharmacist-provided services is essential to strengthening patient care in communities nationwide. NACDS Policy Council members are pictured above with U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN). This legislation also was a major focus of NACDS RxIMPACT Day on Capitol Hill in March.

Support for expanding seniors’ access to pharmacy services among the public is overwhelming.

According to a Morning Consult poll commissioned by NACDS in March 2026, the following is true of Americans 65 years of age and over:

• 86 percent view their pharmacist favorably, and 94 percent said it is easy to access healthcare in pharmacies – positioning them as the most accessible health destinations.
• 81 percent said they support Congressional work to secure Medicare enrollees’ ability to receive from their pharmacists tests and treatments for flu, strep throat, and RSV.

H.R. 3164 and its Senate companion legislation (S. 2426) have been co-sponsored by more than a quarter of the Congress across both chambers — a reflection of the broad, cross-party recognition of the value pharmacists deliver to their communities.