Missouri veterans deserve a better pharmacy system

For most Americans, refilling regular prescriptions is as simple as picking up their medicine at their local pharmacy on the way home from work or while doing weekly grocery shopping. But for more than 150,000 Missouri veterans and beneficiaries of our active duty military currently insured through Tricare, the Department of Defense health insurance program, obtaining some common maintenance prescriptions can be much more complicated.

Current department policy requires patients to obtain maintenance medications either by mail or, often inconveniently, by driving to one of just two military treatment facilities in the state of Missouri. Our veterans and the families of our active duty military deserve easier access to health care services.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in two American adults lives with a chronic health condition. One in five households has a child with a chronic ailment. For the millions of adults and children insured through Tricare who depend on maintenance medications to manage any one of 100 common chronic health conditions — high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma and epilepsy, for example — access to maintenance medications should be as simple as it is for the rest of us.

In addition to more convenient access to maintenance medications, Tricare patients should also have the benefit of consulting directly with a pharmacist they know and trust about their medications, rather than having to call an 800 number. As licensed health care professionals, their local pharmacists can discuss treatment and monitor for potentially harmful drug interactions, resulting in better, more consistent quality of care.

Change is possible. In 2016, Congress authorized the Defense Department to create a pilot pharmacy program that would allow Tricare patients to fill maintenance medications conveniently at any pharmacy, and also to consult directly with their local pharmacists. Unfortunately, this pharmacy pilot was never launched, and millions of Tricare patients continue to face limited local access to maintenance medications, direct consultation and consistency of care.

Congress has already taken other laudable steps to assure our veterans have greater access to health care facilities and treatments. For example, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Jerry Moran of Kansas recently proposed a bill that would make it easier for veterans to access telehealth services. And here in Missouri, construction began last month on the new Joplin Community Based Outpatient Clinic, which is expected to be completed in six months and will serve about 7,000 veterans.

While increased access to doctor visits and other health services is important, these proposals will have little benefit for Tricare members if they can’t also easily get access to the maintenance medications that their doctors prescribe.

With the ball in its court, the Department of Defense should act quickly to make this pharmacy pilot a reality. It would make the lives of Missouri’s heroes and their families a little bit easier.

This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Missouri veterans deserve a better pharmacy system."