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[EXTERNAL LINK] - Drugstore disruptors? Walmart, CVS want patients to skip trips to the doctor | BenefitsPRO
A new initiative, Testing and Treatment, provides services for strep throat, flu and COVID-19, which are now available from Walmart pharmacists in 12 states, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Walgreens will soon have a similar offering across 13 states. And CVS pharmacists will evaluate symptoms and prescribe flu antiviral medicine and cough suppressants in 10 states, although they won’t offer tests.
In state legislative sessions throughout 2022, there were 178 proposed bills in 38 states relating to pharmacists’ scope of practice and payment, according to the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. By the end of the year, 44 of them became law.
The group has made less progress at the federal level. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services doesn’t currently recognize pharmacists as providers of the treatment options Walmart, Walgreens and CVS are developing. That means Medicare and insurance won’t foot the bill.
A new initiative, Testing and Treatment, provides services for strep throat, flu and COVID-19, which are now available from Walmart pharmacists in 12 states, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Walgreens will soon have a similar offering across 13 states. And CVS pharmacists will evaluate symptoms and prescribe flu antiviral medicine and cough suppressants in 10 states, although they won’t offer tests.
In state legislative sessions throughout 2022, there were 178 proposed bills in 38 states relating to pharmacists’ scope of practice and payment, according to the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. By the end of the year, 44 of them became law.
The group has made less progress at the federal level. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services doesn’t currently recognize pharmacists as providers of the treatment options Walmart, Walgreens and CVS are developing. That means Medicare and insurance won’t foot the bill.
